Principle
The term "jackrabbit factor" refers to the importance of being fixed on one's objective. According to the book, a person must be able to visualize the success they seek, and feel the success as though they have already achieved it before beginning the chase. Doing what someone else has done in order to duplicate their success is said to be as futile as is jumping and barking to produce a rabbit. The claim is that if the goal is in clear view, the actions needed to capture the prize will actually become instinctive.
If a person sees a dog chasing a rabbit, but could not see the rabbit, they would see the dog darting, barking and leaping around. To the bystander, the dog would seem crazy. This first part of the analogy compares the dog to a person with a dream for success. The person may seem to do erratic, crazy, irrational things in pursuit of the dream. If a bystander cannot "see" that person's dream, the person's behavior will appear crazed as well.
Taking the analogy further, if a man wanted a rabbit too, and decided to simply mimic the same steps as the dog without "seeing" a rabbit himself, he would actually repel all rabbits as he jumped and barked erratically (hoping that doing so would somehow produce a rabbit). This compares directly to people who try to do precisely what another person has done in an effort to achieve the same success. It is claimed that this strategy will tend to repel the very success they seek.
Read more about this topic: The Jackrabbit Factor: Why You Can (book)
Famous quotes containing the word principle:
“An evident principle ... is the principle of justice to all peoples and nationalities, and their right to live on equal terms of liberty and safety with one another, whether they be strong or weak.”
—Woodrow Wilson (1856–1924)
“I do not mean to exclude altogether the idea of patriotism. I know it exists, and I know it has done much in the present contest. But I will venture to assert, that a great and lasting war can never be supported on this principle alone. It must be aided by a prospect of interest, or some reward.”
—George Washington (1732–1799)
“The principle office of history I take to be this: to prevent virtuous actions from being forgotten, and that evil words and deeds should fear an infamous reputation with posterity.”
—Tacitus (c. 55–117)