I very often set my heart on things – and if they don’t happen, I’m not great at dealing with disappointment.
Which trait do you most dislike in yourself?
Question
When were you happiest?
Time & hindsight
Question
What scares you about getting older?
Time & hindsight
Question
What do you consider your greatest achievement?
Craft & work
Question
If you could edit your past, what would you change?
Failure & regret
Question
What single thing would improve the quality of your life?
Daily life
Question
What is your greatest fear?
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.
Too high an expectation of others and myself.
The Q&A, The Guardian, 8 November 2025 source ↗
Others on this question
View all 243 →My tendency to be avoidant.
My lack of foreign language skills.
Paapa Essiedu
British actor
I find it difficult to sit still.
More from Nuala McGovern
View profile →I’m at my happiest in the ocean, and even better if my husband is there throwing me around.
Running out of time.
In the Pet Shop Boys song Being Boring they’ve a great line that says “I never dreamed that I would get to be the creature that I always meant to be”. And I feel I am, so that’s great.
Fewer night shifts.
Compulsory headphones for phone users in public.
Losing my husband. We are properly codependent.
More on identity & self
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- All identity & self questions
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