What Does "Self Help" Mean?

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The general formula for self-help advice involves some people telling other people what worked for them. 

Trying to follow someone else's advice is not "self"-help.

If what works for others doesn’t work for you, that’s because their way is not your way.

The late, great American comedian George Carlin once joked, “I went to a bookstore and asked the saleswoman, 'Where's the self-help section?' She said if she told me, it would defeat the purpose.” While Carlin’s gag can be thought of as just a bit of fun, it also provides a shrewd comment on the state of self-help.

The self-help industry is monstrous. There are books, podcasts, workshops, apps, retreats, Facebook groups, and other ways of advising what people can do to improve themselves, reach their potential, achieve inner contentment, and so on. Some self-help books sell millions of copies so, clearly, loads of people want to make their lives better.

I’ve read a lot of self-help books. From my reading, I've noticed a pattern. First, someone describes a time when things were seriously awful. Then, while they were floundering about in the basement of rock-bottom, they realized, thought, or did something that profoundly turned things around. Next, as their life becomes more incredible than they thought possible, they........

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