"You take yourself too seriously” is something that people haven’t shied away from alerting me to over the years. After hearing that enough it became my goal to strategically balance both working hard and enjoying my youth. However, I never allowed the often-heard-comment to deter me from giving my dreams a serious chance, followed up with tremendous work ethic. I believe that experiences mold a person, and there are certain experiences that have had a cutting edge in shaping the form I would take. I rarely ever cared to rebut my peers when they judged me for being “different” or “too uptight” because I knew they didn’t have the same experiences shaping them like I had shaping me. ​

I've always struggled with whether or not I've wanted to subscribe to that mentality of "No Excuses" or not because I knew that it would make me solely accountable for my success in life. There would be no option to consider the social factors that influenced my positions in life, nor would there be any margin to point fingers at others as reason for my failures or shortcomings. Making yourself 1,000% accountable for your success is a scary thing to do because it creates a rigid expectation to succeed, no matter what. Choosing not to live by “No Excuses” allows you to easily accept and console your own shortcomings. It allows you to excuse all the dreams you couldn’t find the courage to try.