I was sitting in a boardroom meeting, staring at a wearable device that told me my nervous system was failing, despite my “perfect” productivity scores.
That was the moment I realized I had been treating my body like a high-performance engine to be tuned, rather than a home to be lived in.
In the high-stakes landscape of Southeast Asian business, we are conditioned to believe that “wellness” is just another KPI, something to be optimized, tracked, and hacked. But performing wellness is exhausting. It’s just another form of labor that leaves us feeling lonelier and more depleted. I realized that the missing piece wasn’t a better bio-hack; it was the psychological safety of community. True restoration doesn’t come from a supplement; it comes from being seen, heard, and held by people who understand the specific weight of the glass ceiling we’re pressing against.
I’ve stopped optimizing my life for output and started building Peoties Wholesome Wave to focus on the power of belonging.
To my past self: You cannot bio-hack your way out of a life that feels disconnected.
What was the moment you realized that “self-care” had become just another item on your to-do list?


