Chasing Success, Losing Myself: A Wake-up Call on Prioritising Your Health

8 a.m. on a Thursday morning, and I’m on my way to Queen Elizabeth Hospital for yet another iron infusion.

I didn’t realise I had anaemia at first. I just thought I was one of the lucky ones who could shed weight effortlessly—no gym, no crash diets. A silent blessing, or so I believed. In reality, my body was waving red flags, but I was too consumed with work to notice.

It started 5 years ago when I joined a lean marketing team supporting a global private investment bank with 22 offices worldwide. We were the sole marketing function which meant my job was fast-paced, demanding, and relentless. What was supposed to be a standard 9-to-5 ended up being quite the opposite. Clocking out by midnight felt like a luxury, and weekends if you could even call them that, were just brief pauses before another relentless week, with the odd text from my line manager asking me to log on because a banker in Singapore just completed a deal we needed to announce.

Lunch breaks? Nonexistent. Social life? A thing of the past. Even my relationship was hanging by a thread. And my side hustles I think took the biggest hit.

But I had Joe, our onsite therapist. Every Wednesday afternoon, I’d spill my heart out in his office, trying to untangle the knots of exhaustion and frustration. And then there was Tom, my colleague turned lifeline. Our daily phone calls were a mix of venting, emotional meltdowns, and tearful reminders to eat something.

I was running on fumes, ignoring the signs my body was screaming at me. The constant fatigue, the dizziness, the breathlessness, I brushed them all aside because work came first. It always did. Until it didn’t.

Now, over four years later, I find myself back in a hospital chair, watching iron drip into my veins, reflecting on how much I let a job take from me. It’s a harsh truth: companies will always find a replacement when you’re gone. But you? You only get one life, one body. And once your health is gone, no paycheck can buy it back.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s this: money comes and goes, but good health is priceless. Prioritise yourself. Listen to your body. Because no job, not even the dream one is worth running yourself into the ground for.