The X Factor (wondering about song choices) and watching TV. I’m a night person, and don’t go to sleep until 3am or 4am.
What keeps you awake at night?
Question
How would you describe yourself in three words?
Identity & self
Question
What scares you about getting older?
Time & hindsight
Question
What has been your biggest disappointment?
Failure & regret
Question
What is the book you have given most as a gift, and why?
Taste & recommendation
Question
What did you want to be when you were growing up?
Identity & self
Question
What would you like to leave your children?
Death & what remains
Originally asked
The Guardian, to a different person each week, The Q&A
A long-running fixed question in The Guardian's weekly Q&A questionnaire.
You answer as yourself. Nobody on FLAPSS answers as anybody else.
Working on new ideas and driving
Others on this question
View all 196 →
Louis Walsh
Irish music manager and television personality
Simon Bird
English actor and comedian
Just crippling existential dread.
John Simm
English musician and actor
A couple of years ago we moved to East Sussex – I had been living in London for 35 years – and couldn’t work out why I kept waking up and thinking, what’s that sound? It was actually silence.
I worry a lot about how to juggle being a single parent and working – scheduling keeps me up at night!
More from @aliabbasi
View profile →Positive, Confident, Easy Going
Disability
Not being able to start my own company
The power of the mind by Josef Morphy
A pilot
I want to leave my children three foundational tools to navigate the world:
Life skills: The practical capability and independence to take care of themselves, solve everyday problems, and handle adult responsibilities with ease.
Confidence: A self-belief rooted in resilience, knowing they have worth, deserve to take up space, and can handle failure without letting it define them.
A sense of humor: The ability to find levity in life's absurdity, laugh at themselves, and keep perspective when things don't go according to plan.
If they leave home with these three things, they'll have everything they need to build a meaningful life.
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