How AI Helped Me Reset My Life as a Burned Out Mom
A love letter to skin care becoming my keystone habit, and the tiny rituals that saved me
Have you ever looked in the mirror and thought… how did I get here?
One night I was brushing my teeth and suddenly caught a glimpse of myself and thought — wow. That surely can’t be me.
I didn’t feel like me. And truthfully, I hadn’t for a long time.
I didn’t realize how far gone I was
I had just moved to Bangkok with my eight-month-old. New country, no village, new job, new routines, no time to even figure out who I was anymore. Everything felt like a blur.
I had been living in this weird fog… juggling a demanding full-time job, postpartum sleep deprivation, mom guilt, anxiety, and a body that didn’t feel like mine. And under that fog, I was spiraling.
Late-night scrolling. Comfort eating. No movement. Just trying to get through the day. All of my worst habits had slowly taken over.
And what made it harder? Everyone around me seemed to be thriving. Women in my office. Other moms. Even moms with toddlers! They looked… put together. Alive. Like they had actual lives. I felt invisible. Like a ghost version of who I used to be.
And then AI entered the chat
I started using AI for work (I’m in advertising… it’s kind of the rule now). But pretty quickly, I realized it was great for my life. I started asking it for help with writing, with planning, with self-care. And then one night, almost as a joke, I asked it for my astrology reading.
Oh boy. Down the rabbit hole I went.
Suddenly I was reading about my soul path, my life themes, my North Node, my karmic patterns, my soul contracts, my role in this lifetime, and my relationships.
And you know what was wild? One of the clearest messages was that I was meant to share my lived wisdom. Like, it’s quite literally my life purpose.
So here I am. Living out my chart. (No pressure.)
And then the actual earthquake hit
Just as I was crawling out of my existential fog, the biggest literal shake-up arrived.
There was a 7.7 magnitude earthquake in Bangkok. It cracked the walls in our home. I had never experienced anything like it. It felt like the world split open… outside and inside. The anxiety that had been quietly simmering inside me went full volume.
My skin flared up. My sleep vanished. I felt like I was floating in cortisol.
So naturally, I turned to my AI therapist-slash-bestie and asked:
“Help me. My skin is freaking out.”
It gave me a simple hormonal acne plan. I tried it.
And that night, I did a full skincare routine. Like, cleanser to moisturizer.
That ten minutes of calm? It changed everything.
My keystone habit snuck up on me
Before this, I was the laziest skincare person ever. Ask anyone. I was a face-wash-and-pray kind of girl. But somehow, this new nightly ritual became sacred.
Whatever happened in the day, deadlines, meltdowns, 3 AM wake-ups, I still did my skincare. I looked forward to it. It was ten minutes of caring for me.
And that became my keystone habit.
(If you don’t know the term, keystone habits are the ones that kick off a domino effect of good things. You change one small thing and suddenly… your whole life shape-shifts.)
What changed?
Once I made time for skincare, I wanted to make time for more. I started finding small pockets in the day to care for myself.
I found a personal trainer because I needed someone to hold me accountable. I started moving my body again. I got curious about food and nutrition and how it affects hormones and anxiety. I began writing again, using AI to organize my thoughts and help me say what I needed to say. I dressed better. I felt more confident.
I enrolled in a writing course with Nadia Colburn. I planned a capsule wardrobe. I started tracking my spending. I even got my husband into skincare. My son watches me do my makeup and hair religiously every morning and tries to use my brushes and somewhere deep down I feel like I’m embedding a memory in him of his mom taking care of herself and reflecting joy rather than burnout and overwhelm.
None of these things happened overnight. They are still happening. Slowly. But noticeably.
I stopped chasing the quick dopamine hits and started choosing something wildly underrated… consistency. Boring? Maybe. But honestly? That’s where the magic was. That’s when the real glow-up began.
If you’re a mom reading this
You might be in a dark place too. You might be sleep-deprived, overworked, emotionally underwater. You might feel like the last thing you have energy for is “reinventing” your life.
But maybe you do not need reinvention. Maybe you just need one small anchor. One small ritual that becomes yours. One thing that makes you feel more like you.
And maybe AI can help.
Want to try this for yourself?
Here’s a little prompt you can give to AI (like ChatGPT) to help you find your keystone habit. The one thing that could quietly change everything.
Start by sharing a few honest truths about your life. You can copy-paste this and fill in your own answers:
Hi, I’m a (mom / working woman / human in transition / burnt-out creator). Here’s a bit about me:
My biggest challenges right now are: _______
A typical day in my life looks like: _______
I feel most like myself when: _______
My personality in three words: _______
My current job is: _______
My dream life (or job) would look like: _______
The habits I struggle to stay consistent with: _______
I have about 30 minutes a day to do something just for me.
Then ask:
Given all of this, what’s one small but high-impact habit I can build in 30 minutes a day that would support my joy, energy, and future self? Give me 3 options to try.
Then try one. See how it feels. Do not judge the outcome. Just notice.
You might stumble into your own keystone habit.
Or you might stumble into yourself.