Nearly twenty years ago, my husband and I sat down with a mentor who shared insights that later became the foundation for The Jackrabbit Factor. In fact, one simple analogy he gave us that day eventually inspired the entire book—and later, its sequel, Portal to Genius.

At the time, we were struggling to get traction as entrepreneurs. We were chasing a dream, working odd hours, rushing from one thing to the next, all for efforts that didn’t seem to be paying off. (Well, unless you count the $30 a month we could predict—though it was costing us hundreds to make that happen.)

But we kept at it because we could see a bigger picture. We saw its long-term potential. And that vision—that possibility—was what kept us going.

It was during that conversation that our mentor shared an analogy that stuck with me. He said:

"Have you ever seen a dog chasing a rabbit?"

I hadn’t, but I could imagine it. Then he said,

"What if you couldn't see the rabbit? What would you think of the dog?"

“I’d think he was crazy,” I said.

"Exactly. So when people think you’re crazy for doing what you do, don’t let it get to you. They just don’t see your rabbit."

That moment became a cornerstone of how we pushed forward—and a reminder I’ve returned to time and time again.

To illustrate, I want to show you someone else who chased a rabbit, in his own way. You tell me—does he look crazy?

The following images were captured by Hans van de Vorst from the Netherlands, taken at the Grand Canyon in Arizona. The descriptions are his own. The identity of the photographer in the pictures remains unknown.

I was simply stunned seeing this guy standing on this solitary rock in the Grand Canyon. The canyon's depth is 900 meters here. The rock on the right is next to the canyon and safe. Watching this guy in his thong sandals, with a camera and a tripod, I asked myself three questions:

1. How did he climb that rock?
2. Why not take that sunset picture from the rock to the right, which is perfectly safe?
3. How will he get back?

After the sun set behind the canyon's horizon, he packed his things (having only one hand available) and prepared himself for the jump. This took about two minutes. At that point, he had the full attention of the crowd.

This was the point of no return. And then he jumped—in flip-flops. The canyon’s depth? 900 meters (3,000 feet).

Now you can see the adjacent rock is higher. He aimed to land lower on the slope, which was steep, and tried to grab the rock with his one free hand.

Here’s where the story hits its peak. Look closely at the photographer—camera, tripod, and a plastic bag, all hanging from his left side. Only his right hand is free to grab the rock, but the weight of his gear throws him off. He lands low. His right hand and foot both slip. And in that moment, I captured this shot.

He presses himself against the rock, waits a few seconds, tosses his gear up, climbs, and walks away…

We may never know why this photographer did what he did.  I'd like to see the picture of the view he valued that much.

We may never know exactly why he did what he did. But I’d love to see the photo he was chasing. Clearly, whatever view he saw was worth it to him.

And just like that photographer, people around you may not understand why you do what you do. But it doesn’t matter. Don’t let it shake you.

They just don’t see your rabbit.

Follow-up to this post:

One of my subscribers (thanks, Monique!) later pointed out that this seemingly “crazy” rabbit-chaser actually knew more about the situation than we did as onlookers. There’s always another perspective—and our feelings are shaped by the paradigms we view things through.

If you are the one chasing the rabbit, you likely know more about what you're doing than the people watching you. And that’s why you’ll feel differently about it than they do.

In fact, avid rabbit-chasers often do things that seem more dangerous or risky than they actually are.

Here’s the final picture in this story:

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