The Lulu Essey Podcast
Welcome to The Lulu Essey Podcast — a raw, unedited space for honest conversations about building a life that feels deeply aligned with who you truly are.
Here we explore the full spectrum of well-being: mental fitness, emotional resilience, authentic confidence, and the courage to create a life on your own terms. Through lived experience and evidence-informed approaches, you'll discover that transformation is truly an inside job.
Each episode offers practical tools and tiny, consistent steps for navigating anxiety, uncertainty, and life's challenges. You'll learn how to build confidence from within, find calm in chaos, and deepen connection with yourself and others — one small, powerful action at a time.
Come as you are — no judgment, no quick fixes. Because creating a meaningful life isn't about perfection; it's about progress with self-compassion, acceptance, and the willingness to embrace both light and shadow on your journey.
The Lulu Essey Podcast
When Your Tools Stop Working: Permission to Just Stop
When your Mental Fitness tools stop working. Permission to rest without guilt.
What happens when every practice you've built - journaling, breathing exercises, morning routines, tiny promises - suddenly feels impossible? This raw episode was recorded during my own Mental Fitness struggle.
Sometimes the most radical act of Mental Fitness isn't pushing through. It's stopping. Not quitting. Not giving up. Just pausing. If you are experiencing exhaustion, burnout, or struggling during a hard season, this conversation is essential.
What you'll discover:
- How to recognize when your Mental Fitness is going into the red
- Why stopping is sometimes the most radical act of Mental Fitness
- Permission to rest without guilt and do the bare minimum
- Why "you cannot pour from an empty cup" matters when yours is bone dry
- How to speak to yourself like someone you love when struggling
- Why Mental Fitness is about knowing when to push and when to pause
Powerful Quotes:
"Sometimes the most radical act of Mental Fitness is stopping. Just stopping. Not quitting, not giving up. Just pausing."
"We've turned personal growth into a competitive sport, and we're exhausted."
"You cannot pour from an empty cup. And right now, some of our cups aren't just empty - they're bone dry, cracked, in pieces on the floor."
Timestamps:
00:00 - When I'm not okay
01:03 - Welcome
02:28 - When tools stop working
03:39 - The most radical act: stopping
04:35 - Permission to rest
06:01 - Permission for bare minimum
07:19 - You don't need all the answers
08:34 - What Mental Fitness really looks like
09:35 - Self-compassion
10:44 - Permission to be human
This episode is for you if you're exhausted, depleted, your tools have stopped working, you need permission to rest without guilt, or you're in a hard season.
Share this with someone who needs to hear they're allowed to pause. Reviews help more people find these conversations when they need them most.
This is an inside job. Share this episode with those you love. 💛
Subscribe on YouTube for more content.
Let's Connect:
https://www.luluessey.com/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@luluessey
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lucille-marie-essey/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lulu.essey
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lulu.essey/
Free Guide: Break Free from the Success Trap – https://www.luluessey.com/freetool
Thank you for being here. You are enough. ✨