page title icon How to Address the Mice in the Room and Deal with the Subtle Things in Life

We all know about the elephant in the room, but many creatures in the room are much more subtle. Have you addressed the mice in the room?

We’ve heard the saying, “let’s address the elephant in the room.” These large, significant things that we deliberately ignore, but must be addressed. We certainly give importance to them because they are, of course, significant.

However, there are certain things in life that are smaller, more insignificant, and more subtle that we sometimes don’t notice or just deliberately ignore. We think they won’t make a huge difference in our lives, and little do we know that those small things add up and make a huge impact later on. And unless we deal with them now, we won’t be able to control the consequences later. As the saying goes, we must “nip it in the bud.”

So, how do we identify these seemingly small, insignificant things? How do we address the mice in the room? Listen on.

David Wood was born and raised in Cessnock, Australia.

His little sister died when he was 7 years old. A couple of years later, his brother was born, so he has a brother who’s 2 years younger, and his parents are still together.

He shut down his emotions when his sister was killed, and he witnessed her death.

Apparently, he learned not to feel, and his family didn’t really feel, and they didn’t talk about what happened.

And so he grew up very left-brained, became top of his school, and was just missing the rest of all the soft skills.

He was missing half of being human. And so, the last half of his life is about catching up and getting back in touch with his emotions, learning more about vulnerability, authenticity, influence, and true leadership.

David Wood is a former Consulting Actuary to Fortune 100 companies – including Sony Music, Chanel, and Exxon.

He was a professional entertainer for a year and a half, including performing on national television on the Australian version of the Gong show.

He left his cushy Park Avenue job more than 20 years ago to build the world’s largest coaching business.

David became #1 on Google for “life coaching,” serving an audience of 150,000 coaches and coaching thousands of hours in 12 countries around the globe.

He is the author of “Name That Mouse – Because the Elephant Isn’t the Only Animal in the Room.”

David believes that the tough conversations we avoid are our doorways to confidence, success, and love. They become the defining moments that shape our world.

David lives in Boulder, Colorado, he is single & happily divorced from a wonderful woman.

Tweetable Quotes and Mentions

Listen to @_focusceo get over the hump on the @FastLeaderShow – Click to Tweet

“We need a new animal in society to point to both the subtle things that maybe have not made it to the size of an elephant or the things that are only in my world and you don’t even know about it.” – Click to Tweet

“When we can artfully name those mice and clue other people into our experience, we get much more deeply connected.” – Click to Tweet

“Not naming our mice is horrendously expensive.” – Click to Tweet

“The worst thing that can happen to you is a thought.” – Byron Katie – Click to Tweet

“The tough conversations we haven’t had form the boundaries of our world.” – Click to Tweet

“As we name our mice, the boundaries of our world get pushed back.” – Click to Tweet

Advice for others

Learn about your nervous system. There are ways to calm yourself down and be grounded.

Holding him back from being an even better leader

My thoughts.

Best Leadership Advice

It’s okay to be you. In fact, people want that.

Secrets to Success / Tools

The Work by Byron Katie

Recommended Reading

The Name of the Wind

Name That Mouse

Links and Resources

David’s gift basket: www.myfocusgift.com  

David’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/focus-ceo/ 

David’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/_focusceo

David’s website: https://focus.ceo/ 

David’s book: https://focus.ceo/mouse/ 

David’s podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/ng/podcast/extraordinary-focus/id1576757290 

Fast Leader Show on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/FastleaderNet 

Fast Leader Show on Apple Podcast: https://apple.co/364qAA2 

Fast Leader Show on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/FastLeaderShow  

Fast Leader Show on Twitter: https://twitter.com/fastleadershow  

Fast Leader Show on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/fastleader.net  

Check out other episodes on emotional intelligence: https://www.fastleader.net/charlesconn/

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