Catastrophising.
Which trait do you most dislike in yourself?
Question
What does love feel like?
Relationships
Question
Aside from a property, what is the most expensive thing you have bought?
Money & investment
Question
What is the most important lesson life has taught you?
Time & hindsight
Question
When was the last time you changed your mind about something?
Change of mind
Question
What is your greatest fear?
Identity & self
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.
Being too thin-skinned.
The Q&A, The Guardian, 17 January 2026 source ↗
Others on this question
View all 243 →That I don’t give myself enough credit.
I’m slightly impatient.
Carrie Fisher
Actor and writer
My driving skills.
More from Rory Stewart
View profile →Surprise. Smiles. Courage. Safety.
A painting of a man who was killed on the Dutch coast in 1600.
That I am not wise.
The US election showed me that I had trapped myself in wishful thinking.
I become very anxious if I think I’ve hurt someone.
Scrappy, quixotic, curious.
More on identity & self
Also answered this
Zack Polanski, George H. W. Bush, Nancy Pelosi, Bill Clinton, Caroline Lucas, Malala Yousafzai
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Explore further
- All identity & self questions
- The The Q&A questionnaire — 25 questions from the same format
- Explore the archive — by field, age, era, and subject