Being overly critical.
Which trait do you most dislike in yourself?
Question
Which book are you ashamed not to have read?
Taste & recommendation
Question
If you could edit your past, what would you change?
Failure & regret
Question
Which moment embarrassed you most?
Failure & regret
Question
Who most deserves an apology from you, and why?
Failure & regret
Question
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Craft & work
Question
How would you describe yourself in three words?
Identity & self
Originally asked
The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A
The Guardian's The Q&A has retained this Proust-derived prompt from at least 2007 through 2026, and ABC independently put it to the Obamas in 2011.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
Speaking negatively to myself.
The Q&A, The Guardian, 29 August 2026 source ↗
Others on this question
View all 243 →
John Mellencamp
Singer and songwriter
My quick temper and the chaos that ensues in the hurricane that follows.
Lack of confidence masquerading as perfectionism.
Vick Hope
British television and radio presenter
I can’t say no. I am a people-pleaser, and it means that I burn myself out because I take on too much.
More from Adele Parks
View profile →I’ve never read any Salman Rushdie.
I would become fitter younger. Because I would have been hotter younger!
When I concentrate, I put my thumb in my mouth. I once did it during a really important meeting when asked a question I didn’t know the answer to. When I left the meeting my friend said: “What did you put your thumb in your mouth for?” I didn’t know I’d done it.
When I was in my 20s, I had an uncle who took his own life. I would like a second chance to say: “Hang in there.” My parents were living abroad, and me and my sister were just too young to notice the flags.
How much my son loves me, particularly considering I’ve had a huge career.
Enthusiastic, resilient, empathetic.
More on identity & self
Also answered this
Dolly Parton, Romola Garai, Isabel Allende, Luise Rainer, Zadie Smith, Nancy Pelosi
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