From Survival Mode to a Life I Actually Chose

I didn't choose accountancy because I loved numbers.

I chose it because I was 18; my mother had just passed away; my father had been retrenched; I needed a degree that would guarantee me a job. That was my first major life decision — made not from passion, but from fear.

And for the next twenty years, I kept making decisions the same way.

I built a successful career in finance and private equity. I became a VP at 35. I had the income, the title, the family. From the outside, it looked like everything was working.

But inside, I just felt stuck. But I didn’t know why.

It wasn't until my 30s — when my body started breaking down, high cholesterol, a gallbladder removed — that I was forced to stop and ask a question I had been avoiding for years: Is this actually the life I want?

The honest answer was no. But I didn't know what I wanted instead.

The turning point came on a family holiday. I told my husband something I had never said out loud before — that if I was anything like my mother, who passed at 46, I had maybe seven years left. And if I kept living the way I was living, I would die with regrets.

He told me to quit my job. That I would figure it out.

So I did. Not knowing what came next. Just knowing I couldn't stay where I was.

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What I've learned since then could fill a book. But here are the three things that changed everything:

1. Clarity comes after action, not before.

I didn't have a plan when I left. I went back to school, pursued my Masters in Counselling, and followed my long-standing curiosity about psychology and human behaviour. Someone asked me to coach them. That led to The Mind Studio. A friend needed a CFO. One step led to the next. You don't need all the answers before you begin.

2. Purpose changes how you show up — everywhere.

When I started living more intentionally, everything shifted. Not just my work — but how I showed up as a mother, a wife, a woman. The mum guilt that used to follow me everywhere started to lift. I started doing 1-on-1 dates with my teenage sons. Three years later, they still ask for them.

3. You cannot build a purposeful life on an exhausted body.

This is where USANA became part of my story. At 40, my health started declining again. A friend introduced me to USANA and within a short time my weight and cholesterol stabilised. I researched seriously — the science, the NSF certification, the rigour behind the products. It became the final piece of my puzzle. Health is the foundation everything else is built on.

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Today I hold three roles — CFO, Life Coach, and USANA entrepreneur. People often ask how I manage it all.

My answer is always the same: it's not about time. It's about values. When something truly matters to you, you find a way. When it doesn't, you find an excuse.

If you're reading this and something in you recognises that quiet emptiness — I want you to know you don't need to have it all figured out before you take a step.

You just need to trust what you don't want. And let that guide you forward.

Because that's exactly what coaching is. Not me telling you what to do. But a space where you get honest with yourself, find your own clarity, and start taking steps that are actually yours.

If something in this post stirred something in you — even just a small flicker — I'd love to connect.

I work with women who are exactly where I once was. Capable, accomplished, doing all the right things — and yet quietly wondering if this is really it.

If that's you, let's talk.

Book a complimentary discovery call with me at themindstudio.sg

Because the life you're meant to be living? It's closer than you think.

Elynn Teo is a CFO, Certified Life Coach and founder of The Mind Studio — a coaching practice for women ready to live with more purpose, clarity and intention. Learn more at

themindstudio.sg  |  Elynn Teo