Crashing in an aeroplane into an ocean at night.
What is your greatest fear?
Question
When you feel overwhelmed or unfocused, what do you do?
Daily life
Question
When was the last time you changed your mind about something?
Change of mind
Question
What is your idea of perfect happiness?
Identity & self
Question
How would you describe yourself in three words?
Identity & self
Question
What is something you were told by a parent, teacher, or mentor that you still repeat to yourself?
Time & hindsight
Question
What important truth do very few people agree with you on?
Values & belief
Originally asked
Vanity Fair, to its interview subject, The Proust Questionnaire
The exact prompt is fixed in Vanity Fair's Proust Questionnaire and independently sustained in The Guardian's The Q&A over multiple decades.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
I don’t have any fears.
Sean DeLaney, podcast transcript, What Got You There, 10 May 2023 source ↗
Others on this question
View all 285 →
Bryn Terfel
Welsh bass-baritone singer
I’ve been a strong advocate that all my five children should be great swimmers, so you can deduce what my fear is.
Safety of loved ones.
Alan Titchmarsh
Gardener and broadcaster
Losing the people I love.
More from Derek Sivers
View profile →Well, shut off the internet, journal. It’s one of the most constant things about me. I’ve journaled every single day for at least ten years.
In one month, two of my old prejudices were reversed. Two things that I was prejudiced against.
I love days where I just work uninterrupted from 6am to 10pm, stopping just for a little exercise. These are my favorite days, and always have been. The more of these 16-hour workdays I have, the happier I am.
My oldest friend, in three words, would say "My friend Derek." How's that for a cop-out answer?
Whatever scares you, go do it.
I don’t like live music. (I know that is a very despicable opinion.) I love great recordings.
More on identity & self
- Which trait do you most dislike in yourself? 262 answers
- What did you want to be when you were growing up? 230 answers
- What most recently made you cry? 195 answers
- What is your idea of perfect happiness? 167 answers
- How would you describe yourself in three words? 121 answers
- What are you most proud of? 118 answers
Also answered this
Martha Stewart, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Keith McNally, Warren Buffett, Christian Louboutin, Gino D'Acampo
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- All identity & self questions
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