Why You Can’t Sleep (and How to Fix It Without Pills) — Beatrix A. Schmidt

Sleep coach, speaker, and author Beatrix A. Schmidt joins me (https://www.instagram.com/bradhook) to reframe sleep as a trainable life skill. Drawing from fifteen years of coaching and her new book Sleep Skills for Life (2025), Beatrix explains why “tips and hacks” rarely solve persistent sleep problems—and how self-awareness, gentle intention, and practical evening design help high achievers move from “broken sleeper” to confident, consistent rest. We talk personality traits and why they matter at night, how to detach physically, emotionally, and mentally before bed, and what to do about those 3 a.m. wakeups. This is an empowering, compassionate guide to sleeping deeply without relying on shortcuts.

Big Ideas

🌙 Sleep is not luck—it’s a set of learnable “Sleep Skills” shaped by physical, emotional, and mental readiness.

🧠 High performers value action and output by day; sleep requires non-action—mastering recovery without control.

🧩 Online advice is too generic; start with self-awareness to map your unique sleep puzzle (what helps vs. hinders).

🛠️ Build skills you can repeat at midnight: prepare before bed so relaxation is high when your head hits the pillow.

🧭 Treat evenings as a transition: completely detach from the day so your body knows it’s no longer “daytime mode.”

📵 Tech isn’t the enemy—unexamined behavior is; decide whether your phone is support, stimulation, or delay.

🧘 Learn “doing nothing” in short daytime moments to normalize quiet; it reduces mental activation at night.

⏱️ If you wake at 3 a.m., notice what’s activated (body fidgety = physical, looping thoughts = mental, strong feelings = emotional) and address that layer.

🎯 Set a kind intention: nights are for rest and relaxation, not perfect scores—pressure undermines sleep.

🧳 Resets (holidays) help some, but not all; work with the environment where problems actually occur.

🥼 Consider an assessment to rule out medical issues and tailor behavioral solutions.

📚 Future-proof sleep: consistent skills beat short-term aids (supplements, alcohol, or pills) and build long-term confidence.

Connect with Beatrix A. Schmidt

Website: https://www.beatrixaschmidt.com

Free Chapter of Sleep Skills for Life: https://www.beatrixaschmidt.com/chapter-one