What does "self-help" even mean? [Bonus]

No guest for this quick bonus episode.

We sat down to brainstorm a little about our mission with this show in light of changes coming to the categories in Apple Podcasts. Our main category “Fitness and Nutrition” is being split up, and “Self-help” -- in which we're also listed -- is going away. Mental Health is being added as well as Self Improvement (under Education). These changes are supposed to occur later in this Summer (2019).

That prompted us to discuss what self-help means, and ponder a few other questions:

• How often the words self-help NOT followed by the word “guru?”
• If self-help is such a huge category for books, why take that category away from podcasts?
• We try hard not to take any guru stances, but what are we really?
• How much of self-help is really mental health self-care, and how much is actually self-improvement (gaining new information or learning new skills)?
• How do we make the information we provide more findable in this new environment?

We also touch on anxiety and depression as they related to self-help, and Mike also discusses some personal experiences with counseling and mental health care.

Hosted by Mike Farr (@silentmikke) and Jim McDonald (@thejimmcd).

Produced by Jim McDonald

Production assistance by Connor O’Neal.

Theme by Aaron Moore.

Branding by Joseph Manzo.