You’re Not Stuck — You’re Avoiding the Worse Middle

A lot of people in the mortgage industry thought 2022 was just a waiting game. Hold on for a year. Rates will come down. Refinances will save everything. The boom never came. By mid-2023, the industry felt frozen. No clear direction. No obvious next move. Just a lot of smart people feeling stuck. Here’s the uncomfortable truth: You’re not stuck because you don’t know what to do. You’re stuck because you know exactly what to do — and you don’t want to do it. Not because it’s unclear. Because the second- and third-order consequences are painful. Real progress almost always requires going through what I call the worse middle. Between an okay today and a better future is usually discomfort, risk, and hard decisions. Avoiding that middle keeps you stuck longer than any market cycle ever will. This video is about recognizing that moment sooner — and having the courage to move anyway. If this resonates, subscribe for more honest conversations about mortgage economics, leadership, and building durable businesses in uncertain markets.