決める
ki-me-ru
Deciding is nailing down what was still floating
The picture Something has been floating and wobbling; you drive it into one point so it cannot move any more. 決める is you driving the nail; 決まる is the nail already in.
Where the picture shows up in 決める
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Pinning one option out of many
今日の会議で決めましょう。
kyō no kaigi de kime-mashō
Let us settle it at today's meeting.
Several proposals float over the table, and a nail goes into one of them.
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Pinning down a date
行く日を決めてから連絡します。
iku hi o kimete kara renraku shimasu
I will contact you once I have fixed the date.
A circle that has been drifting over several days on the calendar comes down on one date and is pinned there.
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Pinning your own mind
毎朝走ると決めました。
maiasa hashiru to kime-mashita
I have made up my mind to run every morning.
A mind that wobbled every morning over whether to run is driven into one side and wobbles no more.
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Whose nail it is to drive
私が決めることではありません。
watashi ga kimeru koto de wa arimasen
It is not mine to decide.
The nail and hammer are in someone else's hands, not yours.
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Finishing it in one strike
最後にきれいに決めました。
saigo ni kirei ni kime-mashita
He finished it off beautifully at the end.
One last motion drives the ball home, and the match ends right there.
A wobbling match gets nailed to one point and is over.
All of it in one picture
決める is one hammer blow driving something floating into a single point. A nail into one of the proposals and it is settled; a drifting circle pinned onto one date and the day is fixed; a wobbling mind pinned to one side and you have made up your mind; whose hand holds the nail and hammer is exactly who decides; one last strike drives the ball home and it ends there. So 決める is less about choosing than about fixing something so it cannot wobble again.