The self Help arena began in the late 1700s, picking up speed every year that followed. The current self Help offerings bring enlightened innovative tools, giving birth to a new generation of self-empowerment. Thanks to George Combe, Ralph Waldo Emerson,Samuel Smiles, Benjamin Franklin, James Allen, Dale Carnegie and Napoleon Hill, as of 2013 the Self Help market is worth 11 billion dollars. Providing the seekers of self-improvement an industry overflowing with solutions to their varied and unique issues. Building self-confidence, self-esteem, clear communication skills and thus more successful personal and professional relationships is the gift realized by all who enter this field of expertise.

In the 1970s, Mentoring came to the United States from Europe where it has existed since Ancient Greek times. A wonderful resource for self-help, mentoring uses face to face sessions to transmit knowledge in an informal way. The mentor shares the insight and wisdom that provides opportunity for change to occur in the client’s life, both personal and professional. The client is gifted with opportunities for life altering changes based on the wisdoms shared, whether or not they choose to help themselves is up to them. Mentoring has come into its own as an offering in the self-help arena and is changing lives one at a time using an ancient form of knowledge sharing.

Many of our ancestors passed along their wisdoms to the next generations. Our world has been built on the experiences of the past. The trick here is to use discernment in choosing what is useful to bring forward and what requires change. Bringing us to the current moment of shift and change in which the past is always running. What of the past do we want to carry forward into the future. Everyone contributes to the whole in this way, though the choices and actions they choose as they live. The 11 billion dollar self-helpIndustry provides a plethora of books, CDs, workshops, events, online courses and webinars to serve those who are consciously choosing to awaken, becoming the best person they can be.

Religious sects, various cultures and schools of thought all offer self-help programs. The medical field and mental health fields have specific self-help education programs for numerous disorders that have been defined and labeled as dysfunctional. Interestingly, dysfunction in and of itself has created the need for many of the self-help programs that are offered. In this time frame of great change, the mentors of the self-help arena seek to provide solutions that facilitate a different environment to live in. In the 1700s, the original offerings of self-help began this journey. George Combes began by advocating personal responsibility and proper self-control through education. He saw the need for self-improvement and initiated the beginnings of what we are able to access today. For 227 years the world has been working on taking responsibility for their behaviors and actions in an effort to improve the quality of life we all experience. Where will the self Help field go from here? Will our society step up to the plate and hit a home run? Time will tell.