I am Ethan Zargo, a Vancouver photographer working in architecture, product, and fine art. This is not a photography post. It is something I have been thinking about as an artist for a long time.
Before I get into this, I want to be clear: I am not a psychologist. Everything I am sharing here comes from my personal experience, my own experiments, and what I have read and learned over the years. This is me being open about something I have lived with as an artist, and something I believe shapes the creative mindset more than most people talk about. If you have experienced this too, I would love to hear how it showed up for you.
I know what you are thinking. This looks clickbaity. And I completely understand that. You are probably expecting a twist at the end where I tell you that you actually ARE good enough.
I am not going to do that. I am sorry.
Instead, I want to talk about three things. First, the disadvantage of feeling good enough for too long and the negative impact it has on your future. Second, the advantages of not feeling good enough. And third, the dangers of taking that feeling too far.
But to get there, I need to take you back. Way back.
Being Good Enough
Think about early humans. A tribe on the move, looking for a place to settle. They needed fresh water, resources nearby, a decent climate, protection from wild animals. So they moved from place to place, pushed by the external forces of nature, until they found somewhere that was just good enough.
And in many cases, even if that place was not ideal, they stayed there for generations. Because it was good enough. There was no reason to keep moving.
We see the same thing today. There are people who spend their entire career in one or two jobs and when you ask them why, they say it was just good enough. And honestly, I understand it. If something is working, why would you bother to make it better? If it is not broken, do not fix it. And this is exactly why some companies never improve their operations and keep running the way they always have.
The problem is that "good enough" quietly stops your growth. Not dramatically. Not all at once. It just slowly makes you static.
Not Being Good Enough Is a Feeling
And just like every other feeling, it has a purpose.
Anger, for example, gives you a temporary boost of energy. Anxiety gives you something like a Spider-Man sense, heightening your awareness of your surroundings, keeping you alert, keeping you safe from danger.
The purpose of not feeling good enough is to improve. Whatever the topic is, whether it is a skill, a situation, or something you are working on, this feeling is an uncomfortable internal signal that pushes you toward something better. It is like a notification on your phone that an update is available. That is all it is.
It is not a weapon someone else hands you. It is not a punishment. It is just a signal.
And to be clear, this is not about thinking your work is bad. It is about setting a standard for yourself, reaching it, celebrating that moment, and then raising the bar again. Not good enough does not mean not good. It means your standard has moved. You are good, just not yet at the next level you have already decided you want to reach.
Think about how the cycle actually moves. You feel good enough about something. Then, at some point, that shifts. You start feeling like it is not quite there yet. So you do something about it. You improve. You feel good enough again. And then it opens again.
The tighter that cycle, the faster you improve over time.
The more often you move through it, the faster you grow.
The Internal Force Toward Your Potential
There is a lot of conversation right now about reaching your potential. People are trying to figure out how much they are truly capable of, how far they can go, what they have not yet discovered about themselves.
Most of us are waiting for something external to push us there. A mentor, a deadline, a crisis, a performance review, a layoff. And external forces do work. But they are not reliable. They come and go. They push you when they show up and stop when they disappear.
Not feeling good enough is different. It is an internal force. It comes from inside you, not from your circumstances. And that makes it one of the few things that can move you toward unknown territory on your own terms, toward the experiments, the learning, the versions of yourself you have not met yet.
If you want to reach your potential, you cannot only depend on the world outside to push you there. You also need something working from the inside. This feeling, understood and used correctly, is part of that.
But Too Much of Any Feeling Is Dangerous
No emotion is good in excess. Anger taken too far leads to violence. Too much sadness leads to depression. Too much anxiety leads to panic attacks.
Not feeling good enough is no different.
When this feeling gets too intense, and especially when it mixes with shame and guilt, it stops being productive. It becomes personal. It attacks your sense of worth. You stop feeling like your work needs improvement and start feeling like YOU are the problem. Like you are worthless. Like you are useless.
When you are in that place, nothing moves. It is not a signal anymore. It is a freeze.
Society has been trying to protect people from this by telling everyone they are good enough. And I understand why. But I think what gets lost in that well-meaning message is that the feeling itself, in the right amount, is valuable. It has just never been given much attention or space to be understood properly.
There is also a version of this feeling that comes from outside. Someone criticises your work, questions your ability, or simply does not like you. That is not the same thing. People around you can make you feel not good enough out of jealousy, carelessness, or their own frustration. That version is noise. The one worth listening to is the feeling that comes from you, not from someone else's agenda.
There are ways to work through it when it tips too far. That is what the next part of this series is about. Link to Part 2 coming soon.
This Is Personal for Me
As an artist and a photographer, I have experienced this feeling more times than I can count. At first it really bothered me. I did not know what it was or what to do with it.
Now I do. I know that when it shows up, something in my work or in my practice has room to grow. I do not take it personally anymore. I take it as information. I look at where the improvement is needed, what I can do about it, and what more potential I have in that area.
I think this is true for a lot of creatives.
The creative mindset is not about always feeling confident. It is about knowing how to move when you do not.
Photographers, architects, interior designers, painters, product designers, art directors, anyone whose work requires them to keep evolving. This feeling is not your enemy. It is part of how you get better. It has always been part of how I got better.
The reason my work is where it is today is partly because there were moments where I did not feel good enough about it. And instead of running from that, I eventually learned to follow it.
A Different Way to Think About Your Creative Mindset
I think a big part of why this feeling is so uncomfortable is that we have been taught to avoid it at all cost. We run from it, silence it, or let it spiral into something darker than it needs to be.
What if instead, the next time it shows up, you welcomed it? Not because it feels good. It does not. But because you know what it is now, and you know what it is trying to do.
Just like we learn to work with anxiety, with sadness, with anger, this is one more feeling worth learning to work with. And for anyone building a creative mindset that actually lasts, this might be one of the most important things to understand.
If you want to reach your potential, you need both. The world outside will push you sometimes. But it will not always be there. The internal force has to carry you the rest of the way. Not feeling good enough, when it comes from inside you and not from someone else's noise, is one of the most honest signals you have toward becoming more of what you are capable of.
The internal force to keep improving is part of what shaped the work in my portfolio. If you are curious what that looks like in practice, you can see it at See my work.
Part 2 publishes Tuesday, April 21: How to snap out of it when the feeling stops being useful.