# The Cost of Getting Good - The Cost of Getting Good - How Success Becomes a Creative Trap for Creatives

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-terrible-creative-7304910/the-cost-of-getting-good-the-cost-of-getting-good-how-success-becomes-a-creative-trap-for-creatives
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-terrible-creative-7304910/the-cost-of-getting-good-the-cost-of-getting-good-how-success-becomes-a-creative-trap-for-creatives.md
Podcast: [The Terrible Creative](https://stenobird.com/podcast/the-terrible-creative-7304910)
Published: 2026-05-05T07:05:00+00:00
Episode link: https://share.transistor.fm/s/8e2139a1
Audio file: https://media.transistor.fm/8e2139a1/95cf3f9f.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/the-terrible-creative-7304910/episodes/the-cost-of-getting-good-the-cost-of-getting-good-how-success-becomes-a-creative-trap-for-creatives
Duration seconds: 1861

## Resource

Getting good at your craft is supposed to be the goal. But for a lot of us, competence became the cage. This episode is about the feedback loop nobody warns you about: the better you get, the harder it is to leave. And what we build around the good thing to protect it. Also, some honesty about why I called this show "Terrible" that I haven't said out loud before. MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE Bartleby the Scrivener - Herman Melville (1853) The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock - T.S. Eliot (1915) Robert Berglas - Self-Handicapping research THE BOOK Lessons From a Terrible Photographer is out now. It's part memoir, part field guide, and part honest conversation about what it actually costs to build a creative life. If this episode landed, the book goes deeper. Get it here: https://www.amazon.com/Lessons-Terrible-Photographer-Photography-Probably/dp/B0GRGLYKYS/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0 LINKS Website: http://terriblephotographer.com Support the show: https://www.terriblephotographer.com/support Subscribe to Pub Notes: https://the-terrible-photographer.kit.com/223fe471fb Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/terriblephotographer/ Patrick on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/patrickfore/ Email Patrick : patrick@terriblephotographer.com Email is always open. Questions, thoughts, hate mail. I respond to everything. Link above. The Terrible Creative is written, produced, and hosted by Patrick Fore. Music licensed through Epidemic Sound and Blue Dot Sessions. Recorded from my garage in San Diego, California.

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## Transcript

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