I Asked AI to Name My Biggest Flaw. It Was Right.
I'm a story chaser - I'll pick the exciting story over the practical thing almost every time. I've spent years pretending that's a strength
I talk to LLM’s a lot (GPT, Gemini, Claude etc.), so one day I asked it the uncomfortable question: based on everything you know about me, what are my flaws?
It had a list. But the one that landed was this: I’m a story chaser, at the expense of being practical. I’m always reaching for the big, exciting story, and it pulls me away from the boring work that actually gets things done.
It didn’t sit well with me - because I knew it was right. And instead of fixing it, I did what I always do: I rationalized. I told myself it isn’t a flaw at all, it’s a strength. I should keep chasing the stories that light me up.
Then, this morning, my younger son gave me the whole thing in miniature.
I asked him to help unload the dishwasher. Instead of just doing it, he grabbed a toy monkey, decided the monkey was unloading the dishes, gave it a voice, and turned a two-minute chore into a fifteen-minute adventure. He took something boring and practical and wrapped it in a story, because the story was the only part worth doing.
Watching him, I thought: that’s all of us, really. We’re children who want experiences and excitement, wearing a layer of practical adult on top - the adult who makes us delay the fun, do the chore, save the money, so the party can keep running tomorrow.
For most of my life, my practical adult ran the show. The kid sat on the sidelines, allowed out to play now and then. And a few years ago, that kid started complaining, loudly, that none of this was fun anymore.
So I got a pilot’s license. I built a company that fights mosquitoes with mosquitoes. I moved my family to Thailand on nine hours’ notice. The kid was thrilled - adventures, stories, the whole thing.
And then the adult started to panic: you can’t keep the party going forever. There are bills, there’s a family, there’s a future to fund.
So now the two of them are at the table, trying to negotiate a new balance. I don’t have the answer yet. I’m not sure the negotiation ever fully ends.