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Applied Positive Psychology
I studied Applied Positive Psychology with the University of Pennsylvania, where I deepened my understanding of resilience, wellbeing, meaning, and sustainable human flourishing.
Success That Doesn't Cost
You Your Sanity
Burnout coaching for finance professionals and senior leaders. Evidence-based, grounded in Applied Positive Psychology and Mindfulness.
Sixteen years in banking taught me the weight of achievement. Positive Psychology taught me a more sustainable way to carry it.
If this sounds familiar
You've done everything right.
Long hours. Early mornings. The extra project. The promotion. The holidays you worked through anyway.
— pause —
And now?
You're waking up tired. Not sleepy — tired in a way that sleep doesn't fix. The kind of tired that makes you stare at your inbox and feel nothing except a quiet, familiar heaviness.
But here's what you don't say out loud.
It's not just work exhaustion anymore. It's something deeper. You're not just burnout tired.
You're life tired.
Why am I doing any of this?
Is any of it even worth it anymore?
You feel empty. Not sad exactly — empty. Like the things that used to light you up just don't reach you anymore. Like you're going through motions that someone else wrote for you a long time ago.
And underneath all of that is the fear you can barely admit to yourself:
"If I give this up — this success, this career, this version of me that everyone admires — who am I?"
Your family sees you as the strong one. Your friends see you as the one who has it together. Your colleagues see you as the one who delivers.
And somewhere along the way, you started seeing yourself that way too.
So you keep going. Even though you feel lost. Even though you feel helpless. Because the thought of slowing down — let alone stopping — feels like disappearing.
You're not depressed. You're not broken.
You're a high-achieving professional who has been running on a version of success that was never designed to be sustainable. And no one ever taught you how to build a different one.
My story
"Who am I without this?"
That question followed me through 16 years in banking.
I was good at my job. Promotion after promotion.
And inside, I felt completely hollow.
Instead, I felt less and less like myself. Like the version of me that everyone admired was a suit I couldn't take off anymore.
So I kept pushing. Overtime. Late nights. Weekends. A standard I set so impossibly high that I was the only one enforcing it. I told myself that's what excellence looked like.
Then my body stopped negotiating.
I got a health scare. Hyperthyroidism. My thyroid — the engine of my entire system — was burning out from the high stress I'd been running on for years.
And in that moment, sitting with test results that didn't make sense for someone who "had it all together," it finally hit me:
I cannot operate like this anymore. Not tomorrow. Not after this promotion. Not next year.
Now.
That scare was the hardest gift I've ever received. It forced me to loosen a grip I didn't even know I was holding.
All those overtimes I used to do so diligently? I let them go. The late work nights I wore like a badge of honour? I stopped. The impossible standards I set for myself — the ones no one else asked for — I started questioning them for the first time.
It's sad that it took a health scare for me to put on the brakes. I wish I had done it sooner. But I also know this: without that moment, I never would have stopped.
That realisation set me on a new path. I studied Applied Positive Psychology — not the fluff, the real evidence-based science of what actually makes humans thrive. I trained as a Mindfulness Teacher specialising in MBWE (Mindfulness-Based Wellbeing Enhancement).
Not to escape the corporate world. And definitely not to become a different person. But to learn how to be fully myself inside the life I'd already built — without waiting for another health scare, another breaking point, or another year of feeling hollow.
Today, I help busy professionals do exactly that.
What this work actually is
This isn't
"Self-care as a to-do list." You don't need more tasks.
This isn't
Meditation apps that feel like another obligation. You need something deeper.
This is
A warm, grounded space to pause — and a practical, evidence-based path to rebuild how you relate to success, to yourself, and to the life you're actually living — before your body forces you to stop.
Client Reflection
The workshop provided me with the tools I needed to start my mindfulness journey and gave me a different perspective that I can apply to my daily life. The informal breathing exercises specifically equipped me to quiet my mind and emotions in any situation or place, even amid a hectic work lifestyle. If I had to use one word to describe Sarah, it is calm.
SVP, Banking & Treasury
Here's what I'm genuinely excited for you to experience:
Not as a vague concept, but anchored in your unique signature character strengths. The ones that have always been yours. The ones that made you lighter as a kid. The ones you forgot somewhere between the overtime and the exhaustion.
To wake up and actually use what's best in you, instead of dragging yourself through days that all feel the same.
You stop feeling like life is happening to you. You start recognising where you have choice, even in systems that feel rigid. And when you do well in the world, you feel good about yourself.
Not the “push through” kind that got you here. The kind that acknowledges life always comes with struggles, but teaches you how to meet those struggles without crumbling, numbing out, or abandoning yourself.
Not because you're exhausted into unconsciousness, but because your nervous system is learning a new rhythm.
No more Sunday dread. No more half-listening to people you love while your brain runs through tomorrow's to-dos.
Without feeling like you've let everyone down.
Enjoying weekends. Enjoying dinners. Enjoying silence without needing to fill it.
And underneath all of it: a strong sense of who you are that doesn't crumble when work gets hard, when someone criticises you, or when life throws something unexpected your way.
You don't have to give up your career to feel alive again.
You don't have to lose your identity to find your peace and clarity.
You just need a different map than the one that got you here.
Is this you?
This is for you if:
The Physical & Daily Toll
- Vacations aren't fixing the fatigue. You’ve taken annual leave and came back just as drained as before, because the problem isn't a lack of rest — it's a way of living never designed to be sustainable.
- Your body is sending signals. Poor sleep, tension, unexplained fatigue, a racing heart, digestive issues, or something else you've been explaining away as “just stress.”
- You're not just burnout tired. You're life tired. And you're quietly hating this version of your adult life — the one you worked so hard to build.
The Internal Narrative
- High-functioning but quietly crumbling. You’re delivering, achieving, performing at work — but struggling at home or inside your own head.
- Searching for late-night answers. You’ve Googled “burnout symptoms,” “am I depressed,” or “why do I feel nothing” more than once — and recognised yourself in the search results.
- The fear of slowing down. You’re afraid that slowing down means falling behind. And you’re even more afraid of what happens if you don’t slow down.
The Longing & The Future
- Remembering when life felt lighter. You catch yourself thinking about when you were a kid. How much lighter everything felt, how you laughed more, and how you weren't always calculating or performing just to feel like you're enough.
- Longing for your old self. You find yourself wishing — sometimes desperately — that you could go back to the person you were before the pressure, the exhaustion, and the wondering if this is really all there is.
- You don't want to quit. You’ve worked too hard, built too much, and you’re proud of your achievements. But you want to keep them without it costing your health, your relationships, your peace, or your identity.
Take the 2-Min Burnout Check →
Anonymous. Instant result. No email required.
or
Apply for a complimentary discovery call20 minutes. No pressure to commit. Just a conversation to see if this is the right fit for you.
About
About Sarah Maceda
I've been where you are.
Not just tired. Life tired. The kind of exhaustion that lingers in your weekends, follows you into conversations, and meets you in the quiet moments when you are meant to be resting.
If that is where you are now, you are not broken.
You are a high-achiever who has carried too much, for too long, within a version of success that was never designed to sustain you.
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I've been where you are
For many years, my life looked successful from the outside.
I had built a career in finance. I was capable, dependable, and used to operating at a high level. Like many ambitious professionals, I knew how to keep going, even when something deeper was asking me to stop.
What others could not see was the cost.
Burnout and hyperthyroidism eventually forced a pause I had not given myself permission to take. It was a turning point — one that asked me to listen more closely, live more truthfully, and reconsider what sustainable success really means.
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From banking to burnout coaching
Before this work, I spent over 16 years in banking and finance, so I understand the pace, pressure, and psychological demands of high-performance environments from the inside.
I understand what it is to be relied upon. To be competent, composed, and externally successful, while privately feeling stretched beyond what is sustainable.
That experience shapes the way I work now.
I do not ask my clients to become less ambitious. I help them build a way of living and working that allows ambition and wellbeing to exist together — with more clarity, steadiness, and self-trust.
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My training and approach
My work brings together lived experience, evidence-based coaching, and a grounded understanding of what high-achievers need when they are depleted, overwhelmed, or quietly burning out.
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Mindfulness Teacher Training
I am trained as a Mindfulness teacher specialising in Mindfulness-Based Wellbeing Enhancement. This rigorous dual-certification training allows me to blend secular mindfulness with positive psychology.
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Lifestyle and Wellness Coaching
Harvard Medical School's integrated programme on Nutrition, Lifestyle and Wellness Coaching adds a lifestyle medicine layer to my coaching practice.
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Who I work with
I work with finance professionals, senior leaders, and high-performing individuals who are used to carrying a great deal with very little room to fall apart.
Many of my clients are accomplished, thoughtful, and deeply responsible. On paper, their lives appear successful. In private, they feel tired, disconnected, or increasingly aware that the way they have been living and working is no longer tenable.
If success has begun to feel heavy, costly, or quietly unsustainable, this work may be for you.
A CFO’s reflection
My sessions with Sarah gave me the space to pause, reflect, and become more mindful of myself, my thoughts, my emotions, and the purpose behind the roles I play every day. Exploring the different dimensions of the self, from physical to eudaemonic, helped me reflect on who I am in each aspect of my life. The sessions encouraged me to be more intentional about who I want to become and to align my daily actions with my deeper purpose. I also appreciated the practical tools Sarah gave me to stay grounded, navigate both positive and negative emotions, and remain focused on my goals. Sarah is an inspiring guide to self-awareness and purposeful living.
CFO, Banking & Finance
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Based in Hong Kong, working globally
I am based in Hong Kong and work with clients globally through private 1:1 coaching on Zoom.
I also offer workshops, speaking, and group sessions for organisations seeking a more human and sustainable approach to performance, leadership, and wellbeing.
An invitation
Apply to work with me
If you are ready to explore a different way forward, you are warmly invited to take the next step.
Explore my services or apply for a complimentary discovery call.
Apply for a discovery call
20 minutes on Zoom. A quiet conversation to see if this is the right fit.
Prefer to connect first?
Connect on LinkedInA Gentle, Grounded Approach
My work draws from the science of flourishing—blending mindfulness with positive psychology to create lasting change.
Pause Without Guilt
Mindfulness-based techniques to interrupt the stress cycle and create space for clarity.
Redefine Success
Positive psychology tools to align ambition with wellbeing—so you can thrive, not just survive.
Flourish Long-Term
Sustainable practices that become second nature—building resilience that lasts beyond our work together.
Ways to work with me
How We Can Work Together
Every engagement begins with understanding where you are and what you need. There’s no one-size-fits-all here.
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Your space to recalibrate
Private Coaching
Personalised, one-to-one coaching for professionals navigating burnout, overwhelm, and the pressure of high-performance careers.
NextHalf-Day Workshop
Location & Format
Working together, wherever you are
All 1:1 coaching sessions take place over Zoom. This allows me to work with clients globally — no matter where your career takes you.
For corporate workshops, team offsites, and in-person group sessions, I am available to travel or facilitate on-site. Please inquire for details.
Words from Those I've Worked With
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