Can someone remind me how to live my life?

What we eat, what we wear, how we raise our children – these days, we can’t do anything without consulting an ‘expert’. When did we lose faith in ourselves?

BRAND YOU: THE COMPANIES THAT WILL TAKE OVER YOUR WHOLE LIFE

Mr & Mrs Smith

Do you want dirty weekends without the mess of research; sex in the missionary position on a crisply made bed? Do you want choice-edited destinations with guaranteed chic cred (“You stayed at the Bulgari hotel? How impressive”), a guarantee that you will “fit in”, that there will be no surprises and that you’ll always have “a ready topic of conversation”? Let leisure company Mr & Mrs Smith take care of it.

With its travel guides, calendars and CDs, it will tell you to stay here (the Splendido in Portofino, the Cipriani in Venice), shop here (Bill Amberg, Jo Malone), eat this (lobster and champagne) at this place (Gordon Ramsay, L’Atelier de Joël Robuchon), while listening to this (Ralph Myerz, Sebastien Tellier). Then you can just stand there and, eventually, other Mr & Mrs Smith couples will turn up, so you won’t have to talk to your partner any more. One-size-fits-all “romance” without trying.