FIELD NOTES // 022 - Gratitude > Ego

Ego blinds you. Gratitude builds you.

Ego is loud.

It needs the room.

It needs the validation.

It needs proof that you’re ahead of everyone else.

Ego says you’re owed something.

Ego keeps you comparing.

Ego keeps you defensive.

Ego keeps you fragile.

Because the second the world stops applauding, ego cracks.

Gratitude doesn’t.

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Real gratitude, not the polished holiday version, is earned in the hard seasons.

It’s forged in the moments that humbled you, stripped you down, and made you rebuild without an audience.

Gratitude says:

“I’m not owed anything and I still get to build everything.”

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Gratitude keeps you coachable.

Keeps you disciplined.

Keeps you aware of the people who showed up when you had nothing to offer but effort.

Keeps you grounded in the work instead of the noise.

Every step that shaped you…

Every failure that sharpened you…

Every person who stayed…

All of it is fuel — not entitlement.

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This is why gratitude wins.

Not because it’s soft.

But because it keeps you dangerous.

It keeps your feet on the ground and your mission in front of you.

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Ego inflates you.

Gratitude strengthens you.

And if you want to keep climbing, keep becoming, keep earning, the equation is simple:

Gratitude > Ego.

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No excuses.

Just execution.