This is Part 2 of a series where VOICE OF ASIA speaks with Dr Anand Chandrasegaran, and how he helps through hypnotherapy.
Most executives who come to see me hesitate before admitting they are struggling.
From the outside, everything looks fine. They are doing well at work. They are respected. They carry responsibility. Some manage teams, some run businesses, some are the ones others rely on when things get difficult.
And yet, when they finally speak honestly, they describe a quiet exhaustion that never really leaves.
One senior manager once told me, “I’m tired all the time, but I can’t switch off.”
His lifestyle looked healthy. He slept six hours a night, exercised regularly, and took short breaks when work allowed. Still, the fatigue returned the moment he stepped back into his role. His mind stayed alert long after the day had ended.
This kind of tiredness is difficult to explain. Sleep doesn’t fix it. Time off helps only briefly. It feels like being constantly on — alert, prepared, scanning for what might go wrong next. We often label this burnout, but what I see more accurately is executive stress, a prolonged state of mental and physical vigilance.
Many professionals assume this is normal. They tell themselves it is simply the price of leadership and success.
From a medical standpoint, what I see is something else: a nervous system that never stands down.
The body does not differentiate between different types of pressure. Whether the stress comes from a critical medical situation, a high-stakes leadership decision, or the fear of letting others down, the physiological response is the same. Breathing becomes shallow. Muscles tighten. The mind stays vigilant.
Another client, a business owner, shared that the only time he felt truly relaxed was late at night, long after everyone else had gone to sleep. During the day, his jaw was constantly clenched and his shoulders rarely dropped. He had never noticed this until I asked him to pay attention to his body.
A third client, a founder and CEO, described something different. “If I relax,” he said, “everything will fall apart.”
For him, constant tension had become synonymous with responsibility. Calm felt unfamiliar — even unsafe. Years of decision-making under pressure had trained his nervous system to stay in control at all costs.
That is often where I begin.
I don’t start by asking people to change how they think. I ask them to notice what their bodies are doing. Where is the tension? How is the breath moving? Is there any moment in the day when the system truly relaxes?
More often than not, the answer is no.
At first, this constant alertness is useful. It sharpens focus and improves performance. It supports leadership under pressure. Over time, however, it leads to leadership burnout, poor sleep, irritability, and reactive decision-making.
This is where the subconscious becomes a powerful game-changer. By speaking directly to the subconscious, and reprogramming it, the nervous system relearns to rest.
When that happens, the shift is often subtle but meaningful. Sleep deepens. Decisions become less reactive. Mental clarity returns because people are no longer fighting themselves. The subsconscious aligns with the conscious mind.
Many clients say the same thing after a session, almost with surprise: “I didn’t realise how much I was holding.”
Success does not have to feel heavy.
But first, the body has to believe it is allowed to rest.
This is why they call me ‘The Mind Coach’. Society focuses so much on the body – keep fit, exercise, eat right, look good… but we forget that our end objectives are possible and achievable only if the mind allows it. The key is to unlock the power of the subconscious and harness the potential it has by understanding where something is stuck and why, and then the rest comes naturally.
