Why I tried the happiness hack

Anyway, I have a major insight that I’d like to share with you this week.

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Last week, Izzy and I went on vacation to Taipei, Taiwan for our “babymoon” – apparently, this commemorates the final holiday you take as a couple before having kids and everything allegedly changes.

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While there, I spent the first few days in a restful stupor. I was waking up super late, getting 10+ hours of sleep, and yet still feeling exhausted during the day.

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Izzy made an observation: “Ali, every time we go on vacation, you spend the first 3-4 days crashing, just catching up on sleep…” Her theory? I wasn’t getting enough sleep in my day-to-day life, which is why I always ended up in a sleep coma whenever we traveled.

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At first, I dismissed her theory (in a nice way ofc). I usually get 7-8 hours of sleep a night. My schedule is way more flexible than when I had a real job. And yeah, my Whoop sleep scores were always below 75%, but I never saw that as a real problem as long as I was getting my hours in. But she had a point…

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Since coming back, I’ve felt remarkably good. Every day, I’ve woken up refreshed, energised, and motivated. No post-lunch lethargy. No desperate need for coffee to feel awake. I’ve been feeling great while filming videos—no procrastination before hitting record, which is unusual for me.

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Maybe it’s partly down to the vacation we took, but I suspect a far bigger factor is that I decided to test Izzy’s “Ali might be chronically a little sleep deprived” theory.

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We all know sleep is important. I’ve even made videos about it—the science of sleep optimisation, how getting sunlight in the morning resets your circadian rhythm, etc. But despite these optimisations, my Whoop sleep score rarely hit above 80%.

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For months, my Whoop was telling me I actually needed 9h30m of sleep. Most nights, I was getting 7-8h and thinking, meh, I feel fine.

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But after realising Izzy’s point about my vacation sleep crashes, I decided to take my Whoop data seriously and actively prioritise my sleep. What gets measured gets managed, right?

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Here’s what happened:

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My Sleep Scores This Week: 95%, 100%, 95%, 86%, 91%, 93%, 98%

My Monthly Average for the Past Few Months: 73%, 69%, 65%, 66%

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The difference between a 70% sleep score and a 95% sleep score? Absolutely massive.

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Each morning, I’ve woken up feeling refreshed and started the day with a quick Zone 2 cardio run (inspired by Peter Attia’s Outlive). Then, I shower, change, and start work. On Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday this week, I filmed a new video each morning, feeling good the whole way through.

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Most surprisingly, I haven’t had any mini existential crises about my business or purpose. For the past month or so, I’d been feeling an underlying ugh, what’s the point of all this? most days. This week? None of that.

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My takeaway: Maybe Izzy was right. Maybe I was just sleep-deprived.

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Not in a dramatic way, but in the chronic, low-level sleep debt kind of way. The kind you don’t really notice because it builds up so gradually.

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So, if you’ve been feeling sluggish, unmotivated, or prone to existential spirals, maybe it’s not your job, your goals, or your purpose.

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Maybe you just need more sleep.

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Try it out and let me know how it goes.

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Have a great week!

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Q xx