When I criticised this self-help technique to my friends, I found myself in the minority

October 4, 2026 — 5:00am

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Waiting in a restaurant for girlfriends to arrive the other night, I just couldn’t resist: I had to watch the chilling teaser for the documentary on Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes one more time.

Her claims of a diagnostic tool that could detect a spectrum of health issues with a single pinprick of blood led Forbes in 2014 to name her the world’s youngest self-made female billionaire, heading a company then valued at $US9 billion. Only problem, the machine never worked and she knew it. Shoddy blood testing ensued, putting thousands in danger. Holmes is currently serving 10 years for fraud.

Watch the clip and it’s evident Holmes still will not acknowledge failure. Her single-minded self-belief is so all-encompassing, she is immune to the reality that the idea is a dud. She appears clearly delusional – I’ll go as far as deranged – and it’s kinda scary.

I decided to scroll on to some light entertainment diversion and stumbled across a piece on Jennifer Aniston’s new boyfriend Jim Curtis. I wouldn’t normally give a flying who Aniston dates – I wish her only happiness – but a description of Curtis’ profession as a hypnotherapist and life coach piqued my interest.

“Here we go”, I thought, and into the rabbit hole I dived, reading........

© The Sydney Morning Herald