How One Small Habit Transformed My Year
Every year I take myself through an end of year review and planning ritual. It’s something I guide our guests through inside the growth workshop at Escape Haven, and it has become one of my favourite traditions. What always amazes me is that when you reflect deeply, the biggest shifts in your life almost never come from the long list of things you expect. They usually come from the 20 percent of tiny decisions or habits that end up creating 80 percent of your results.
This year was no different.
During my own review, one small thing stood out so clearly that I could trace so many positive changes back to it.
A tiny habit with a huge ripple effect.
It was my Oura Ring.
I went into it thinking it would just be interesting data. I genuinely believed I was doing fine. If you had asked me earlier this year, I would have said I wasn’t stressed, that my sleep was decent and that I recovered well considering how much I juggle.
But once I started tracking my recovery, the truth became impossible to ignore.
My HRV was low.
My sleep wasn’t as restorative as I thought.
My nervous system was carrying more than I realised.
I had become so good at pushing things down that I wasn’t noticing the signs anymore.
That’s the thing about awareness. You can’t change what you can’t measure. And once I started measuring my recovery, everything shifted.
It was like suddenly having a translator for my internal world. I could finally see what my body had been whispering for years. And with that clarity came small, steady changes
• More consistent sleep
• Tiny pockets of breathwork
• Digital boundaries that protected my mental space
• Training on days when my body had the capacity
• Simple rituals that helped me unwind and restore properly
Individually these habits looked small, but together they created a wave of change.
My energy returned and my creativity bounced back.
My clarity sharpened.
My emotional resilience steadied and I found myself feeling more social and more connected.
And my body responded beautifully.
This year I lost 18kg and gained 11kg of muscle, not through force or major deprivation, but through choices that matched what my body needed.
Recovery became the foundation for my performance and a successful year.
And performance became the foundation for a more grounded and spacious way of living.
As I sat on retreat during my own planning session beside our amazing women, this realisation became so clear. This one tiny habit was my 20 percent that created 80 percent of the impact on my year. It shaped how I travelled, how I trained, how much work I could get through, how I parented, how I led and how I cared for myself.
As I reflected on all of this, it reminded me why Escape Haven has worked so beautifully for so many years. Women arrive feeling stretched, overwhelmed or disconnected, and through intentional rest, rituals, movement and community, they remember who they are again. The inner shifts they experience are often the quiet kind that lead to the biggest life changes later on.
This recovery journey of mine also made it clear that the next evolution was calling. So many of us are living in a tired and wired state. Holding full lives. Wanting to perform at a high level. Needing support that blends the science of recovery with the soul of retreat.
That realisation is what set the foundations for Mana Sanctuary.
Escape Haven will always be the place women come home to themselves. Mana becomes the extension of that work, built for both men and women who want to understand their recovery, optimise their energy, improve longevity and rise into their next season with clarity and strength.
Mana is our new gender inclusive, science backed luxury healing and recovery Sanctuary opening in March 2026 in Canggu. It brings together sleep optimisation, nervous system regulation, personalised recovery pathways, longevity testing, expert-led movement and the most advanced tools we have ever offered. It was created for people who carry a lot and want to feel strong, energised and clear again.
Where Escape Haven is feminine, nurturing and deeply restorative, Mana takes that same heart and builds upon it with precision, structure and science. It blends science with soul. Two different worlds, but the same intention. To help people return to themselves.
In many ways, this tiny habit didn’t just change my year.
It shaped our next chapter.
If this work speaks to you, we have two beautiful pathways
Escape Haven for women who want rest, renewal and gentle transformation
Mana Sanctuary for those wanting to rebuild their energy with science, structure and personalised recovery
If you would love guidance on which retreat would serve you best right now, I’m always happy to help.
Send us a message via WhatsApp +62 812-3713-7829 or reach out on our website and we can map out the perfect retreat for your next season, whether that’s at Escape Haven or Mana Sanctuary.
