Recently I was very excited to start an online photography course. It’s been great to see my photographs slowly progressing towards more professional looking images. There is a support group on Facebook for students to share their work and offer and receive support. There is just one problem.
Every day I have these magnificent images popping up in my newsfeed. They make me go “wow!” But they also make me go “I’ll never be good enough”. “I can’t do that”. “I don’t have enough talent”. “No-one notices what I do”. “Why can’t I be that good?”
Sound familiar?
But here’s the deal: The journey is as much about the journey as the destination. We may look back and shudder at our first attempts, but didn’t the professionals start out the same way? Even talents have to be developed through practice and learning.
What is “good enough” anyway? Where are the “good enough” police? In my head? Hmmm.
How about we change that “I’m never be good enough” to “I’ll do my best and see what happens”. Or perhaps “I’ll do this because I genuinely enjoy the experience and I don’t need the appraisal of anyone to validate that”. Yeh, that sounds better.
I’ll leave you with a final thought.
If you never start something, you will never finish anything.