The following four principles, like their namesake, are huge! And to the surprise of many, elephants are far more common in your area than you may imagine! So this warning is for you, and it prods me to share a primary guideline.

First, do not ignore the elephant in the room—especially if it is in one of your rooms!

Beware! Elephants can show up anywhere! For instance, they are often found in family rooms. Case in point, someone in your family has a big problem, but everyone goes on acting as if the issue doesn’t exist. Since the elephant takes up so much space, everyone tries to work around it without disturbing it. And addressing the elephant directly may be painful, so you continue to allow it to cramp your space and limit your possibilities.

Of course elephants can be found in many other rooms as well: workplaces, churches, and boardrooms, to name a few. Elephants come in many varieties, but they have one distinguishing mark: they are very large and they essentially squeeze out any hope of growth and progress!

Second, eat elephants one bite at a time—no matter how big they are or how many bites it will take!

Since elephants are large by their very nature, many folks assume they cannot be eaten. However, if a journey of 1,000 miles begins with one step, then it must follow that eating an entire elephant begins with one bite. Just get started as soon as possible since you will be having one menu item for a long time!

Since elephants are rarely eaten, many people assume they won’t like the taste of elephant. Let me suggest they probably taste a lot like chicken, since it seems every unfamiliar meat known to man tastes like chicken. And since most everyone likes chicken, most everyone will probably like elephant! Just give it a try, chances are good you will like it!

Third, eat your elephant with as many other people as possible—invite all your friends and foes alike.

The more elephant eaters you have, the quicker the elephant is eaten! Do the math! Help others discover the advantages that will emerge once the elephant is eaten. Help them see that the sooner the elephant is gone, the sooner more productive projects can be undertaken.

Fourth, don’t ever let another elephant through the door—even a cute baby one.

Sadly, I’m fairly sure that even baby elephants will grow faster than you can eat them! Accordingly, you are far better off in the long run to slam the door in an approaching elephant’s face! Set up some elephant barriers as well. Ensure you never forget how tasking and time-consuming it is to acknowledge and eat an unwanted elephant!