It’s the Law of Pancake Day that the first pancake is always rubbish…

But the second is perfect (well, almost)…

Both were totally yummy…

Yes, it’s pink!

The first question I’ll answer came from Karen Kramer: “With all the many hats you wear, how do you ever manage your time to fit it all in?”

The simple answer is – I don’t! There is never enough time to do everything I want to do or work on every idea I have. That would be impossible.

Instead I do as much as I can. I make lists, I prioritize, and where possible I pass the mundane, routine stuff over to someone else (although I’m still working at this – I’m a bit of a control freak).

I have daily voiceover commitments and usually spend the morning in the studio. If the MD of the studio needs me to do any work for him (can be anything from writing or editing to IVR or online consultation) I will stay as long as it takes or book it in for later. Then I head home and usually spend the afternoon in the home office, unless I have meetings.

Due to working for a variety of clients I tend to have deadlines to hit, so I have to put that work first. Then, if there’s any time left, I work on personal projects.

I spend far too much time in front of the computer. My biggest distraction at the moment is social media. It’s great that people pay me to manage it, but I have noticed that I can lose vast periods of time reading comments on Facebook and Twitter, or watching Youtube videos.

I admit I get a little frustrated when I think about the projects half started or websites I’d like to spend more time on but I’m not Superwoman. I don’t suppose I will ever get it all done (not with a head full of plans and ideas). Like many of you (I suspect), I just do the best I can.

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If you have a question for me about anything, please add it to the comments and I’ll attempt to answer it in a future blog post.

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The other challenge to doing this was writing and publishing something nearly every day (I didn’t actually manage a daily post but then the Challenge isn’t necessarily supposed to run on 30 consecutive days).

I’d like to continue writing regular posts here on the blog, but that’s where I need your help. The questions definitely helped to motivate me to action as the topics were created for me – I didn’t need to spend ages coming up with new ideas every day.

So, I need your questions to prompt me to write.

They can be questions about me and my life, or they can be questions about business – online marketing, social media, voiceovers etc. They can question my opinion on certain topics or they can be questions of a more practical “how to” nature. I’d like to mix things up a bit so any type of question is valid. I don’t embarrass easily but I will reserve the right not to answer anything that is so personal it puts my own safety at risk or intrudes on the lives of family and friends.

So, ask away – either below in the comments section or by sending me a message on Twitter. I’m looking forward to your questions!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Dear Lisa,

I know this letter is supposed to be about everything you love about yourself (or I love about you, which is the same thing) but can I start by saying you’re an idiot! You started this 30 Days of Truth blogging challenge and now you have to deal with the consequences and write something that makes you feel uncomfortable.

So, what do I love about you?

You like a challenge, you like to push the boundaries of your comfort zone, and you’re adventurous. Sometimes you scare the pants off me but life is never dull.

You make me laugh – which is totally sad since I am you – but it’s good that you can amuse yourself and laugh at your idiosyncrasies.

Life doesn’t get you down very often. Overall you have a pretty good outlook on life and find a positive angle on the bad stuff.

You love your friends and your family unconditionally. Yes, they drive you crazy sometimes, but you’d do just about anything for them – even some you’ve never  met in person.

You’re mostly kind and generous and try not to hurt people unnecessarily. You don’t suffer fools gladly but you’re unlikely to be hurtful about it since you know you are sometimes that fool!

You have a lot of common sense and a fairly good brain on you but don’t try to pretend that you know everything, and you’re willing to learn from others and have your beliefs tested. When you have your ditzy moments you admit to them and laugh about them, instead of trying to deny they ever happened.

You enjoy making others laugh, even if it means appearing foolish, because laughter is one of the best feelings in the world.

I can’t think of anything else to say but if I think of something I’ll tell you later

Love you like you were me!

I find it extremely difficult to lose weight (I have PCOS and an underactive thyroid – not an excuse but definitely a factor) and whenever I make a concerted effort I can usually lose 7-14lbs before I plateau. If I stay stuck at that weight for too long I will give up and put the weight back on (and more).

For my health I hope I can change this (and I’m aware the change has to be mental as much as physical).

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Still to come in the 30 Days of Truth:

Just one more day left….

Day 30 → A letter to yourself, tell yourself EVERYTHING you love about yourself

But, if I was, it would certainly take my life on a course I never expected.

I haven’t been broody since my 20s and even then I think it was more because of my hormones going crazy than any major desire to have children. When my friends talk about their biological clocks ticking away I zone out because I just don’t feel it.

Not that I have anything against having children either. I just don’t reckon I will ever experience pregnancy. I have believed for a long time that if I do have children I will adopt because there are so many kids who need loving homes.

If the purpose of this question is to find out if I would consider abortion then the answer is an emphatic no. I’m not going to condemn anyone who has (I have friends who have had to make that very difficult decision) but it isn’t something I would contemplate. For me, if a child isn’t meant to be born then nature will take its course. If they aren’t physically or mentally perfect when they are born it wouldn’t change how I felt about them. My own little sister wouldn’t be here if mum had listened to the doctor and, while she is all kinds of crazy (only kidding!), she’s intelligent, able and gorgeous.

So, don’t expect to hear any pregnancy announcements from me, but if it did happen then I would be trying to figure out how to change my lifestyle to include a child and trying not to think about the pain of childbirth!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Still to come in the 30 Days of Truth:

Day 29 → Something you hope to change about yourself. And why.
Day 30 → A letter to yourself, tell yourself EVERYTHING you love about yourself

But really, the best thing I have going for me is the same whether you asked me today, next week or in 5 years’ time: wonderful family and friends who stick by me, look out for me, care for me and make me laugh…lots!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Still to come in the 30 Days of Truth:

Day 28 → What if you were pregnant or got someone pregnant, what would you do?
Day 29 → Something you hope to change about yourself. And why.
Day 30 → A letter to yourself, tell yourself EVERYTHING you love about yourself

Online I think everyone thinks of me as this constantly happy, upbeat person, which is only partly true (nobody can be upbeat 100% of the time) but I have experienced the depths of despair as well. If you’ve ever been there you’ll know that feeling (and I can only describe it in clichés) of being in a deep dark pit and wondering if I would ever claw my way out. While that memory is still with me, thankfully any bad times since have not compared.

I love life and want to live it as long as possible and as full as possible. During the difficult times when life seemed too hard, I would be lying if I hadn’t thought about what it would be like if the pain stopped – if I just wasn’t there anymore. But I never reached the point where I thought that was the answer or contemplated it seriously, and I couldn’t do that to my family or friends. They are the ones who always get me through the hard times and it would be them that suffered if I just gave up on life.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Still to come in the 30 Days of Truth:

Day 27 → What’s the best thing going for you right now?
Day 28 → What if you were pregnant or got someone pregnant, what would you do?
Day 29 → Something you hope to change about yourself. And why.
Day 30 → A letter to yourself, tell yourself EVERYTHING you love about yourself

It’s the still alive especially I’m not sure about.

I can’t be all deep about this. I’m still alive because I simply am. That’s the way it is.

I have lost several friends who died way too young. Why am I still here? Clearly my time has not yet come!

I’ve had a couple of near death experiences, most notably when I jumped into the deep end of a  swimming pool as a kid thinking it was the shallow end, and once when I went whitewater rafting.

The swimming pool incident is a distant memory but I know I went under several times before someone spotted me and dragged me out (I was on a riding holiday with my older cousin – nobody was watching me but then I expect I had been told not to get in the pool until someone was there and jumped straight in anyway).

I remember the whitewater rafting vividly. It was in Australia and the rapids were actually pretty poor because there hadn’t been much rain that year. But I fell out over one of the worse rapids. It was quite shallow but I got caught in a rapid that kept churning the water back on itself so i just couldn’t get out of it.

If I’m honest, our guides were pretty useless – nice guys but exactly like Bill and Ted. I was rescued by a deaf guy who was on his honeymoon. I remember seeing him striding through the river as I tried to keep my head above water and just reach in a grab me. He was the same guy who – when 3 of us fell out of the raft (are you spotting a trend here? Note to self – hold on tighter) – managed to hang on to us all and drag us down the river until we could climb back in. He was my superman that day!

So, back to the original question: the reason I believe I’m still alive today? Just bloody lucky I guess!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Still to come in the 30 Days of Truth:

Day 26 → Have you ever thought about giving up on life? If so, when and why?
Day 27 → What’s the best thing going for you right now?
Day 28 → What if you were pregnant or got someone pregnant, what would you do?
Day 29 → Something you hope to change about yourself. And why.
Day 30 → A letter to yourself, tell yourself EVERYTHING you love about yourself