When Insomnia Became My Teacher

Turning late-night restlessness into actionable insights with the nine tenets of mental fitness.

I couldn’t sleep again, so I stepped out onto my deck just after midnight, the salt breeze off St. Pete’s bay brushing my face. The city lights glimmered across the water, and the distant chirp of night herons felt strangely comforting. Instead of scrolling through another late-night feed, I reached for my journal. I remembered a moment from my conversation with Dr. Drew Ramsey—how he described treating middle-of-the-night wakefulness as an opportunity, not an enemy. So I unscrewed the cap of my pen and began to write.

At first, the words came in a jumble: the client call I’d left on voicemail, the outline for next week’s episode still half-finished, the sinking feeling that I wasn’t living up to my own standards. Then I paused and asked myself: Why do I feel this way? In the silence, I noticed the familiar knot of shame—shame for struggling with insomnia despite knowing better, shame for hiding behind busyness, shame for letting perfectionism dictate my worth.

Page by page, I untangled those threads. I wrote about the listener who messaged me last week, saying they’d nearly given up before hearing our chat with Commander Susan Kilrain. I wrote about the early mornings I spend meditating on the beach and how real peace still feels elusive. By the time my pen hovered above the final line, I felt a flicker of something I hadn’t had in days: clarity.

That’s when my phone buzzed on the outdoor table. A new message from that same listener glowed on the screen:

“John, your episode with Drew Ramsey changed everything for me. But now I’ve been offered a chance to move across the country for a dream job— and I’m terrified I’ll lose the life I’ve built here. I don’t know what to do.”

My thumb paused over the keyboard. Should I share with them every insight from Drew’s nine tenets—self-awareness, nutrition tweaks, sleep rituals, unburdening techniques? Or is this a moment that calls for something deeper, something only I can offer from my own journey?

I sat there, heart pounding, as the cicadas wound down their chorus. I realized this wasn’t just about giving advice. It was about leaning into uncertainty—one of Dr. Ramsey’s core principles. If my listener moved, they’d gain new opportunity but risk losing their community. If they stayed, they’d preserve their comfort zone but wonder “what if?” I knew the weight of that decision. I’ve faced crossroads where every path demanded a piece of my identity.

I took a breath and remembered another of Drew’s insights: “Mental fitness is a process, not a destination.” It’s about practicing tough choices, one small step at a time. And though I’ve interviewed astronauts who risk everything to explore space and Paralympians who redefine possibility after life-altering injuries, I’ve learned that our everyday dilemmas are just as profound.

So I leaned back in my chair, stared out at the water, and typed back a single line:

“Let’s talk it through. I’ll share my story, and we’ll figure out how to turn this fear into momentum.”

I hit send and watched the message drift off into the night. In that moment, I felt something shift—the tiniest tremor of hope that connection can dissolve isolation and that, together, we can transform fear into fuel…

A Premium Invitation to The Ignition Room

For those of you reading this in The Ignition Room, here’s what I’ve lined up to dive even deeper:

• The Full, Ad-Free Conversation with Dr. Drew Ramsey
  Hear every uncut moment of our discussion—no commercial breaks, no platform restrictions—so you can soak in the nuances of his nine tenets for Mental Fitness.

• Companion Reflection Guide
  Thoughtfully crafted prompts and exercises to help you turn insights into action. Whether it’s transforming your own middle-of-the-night wakefulness into a moment of creative clarity or reevaluating the role of alcohol in your evening routine, this guide will meet you where you are.

• Digital Workbook
  Interactive worksheets for tracking your sleep patterns, mood fluctuations, dietary tweaks, and progress on self-awareness. Think of it as your personal blueprint for building a brain that not only survives but thrives.

• Exclusive Everyday Hero Stories: Inspiring interviews and deep dives with astronauts, Paralympic athletes, behavioral science experts, functional medicine practitioners, and other heroes who’ve turned challenge into triumph.