Has there ever been a difference between philosophy and self-help?

There is no basis for
commitment in the cosmos. Indeed,
such a commitment is exactly the opposite of belief in an objective truth.
You are called by some concrete concern -- either a person or a cause -- and when you define yourself by your dedication to that concern, your world acquires seriousness, and significance.
The only way to have a meaningful life in the present age, then, is to let your involvement become definitive of reality for you, and what is definitive of reality for you is not something that is in any way provisional -- although it certainly is vulnerable. That is why, once a society like ours becomes rational and reflective, such total commitments begin to look like a kind of dangerous dependency.

as our culture comes more and

more to celebrate critical detachment, self-sufficiency, and rational choice, there are

fewer and fewer shared commitments. So, commitment itself beings to look like

craziness.

Heidegger argues that to think of

nihilism as a state in which we have forgotten or betrayed our values is part of the

problem. Thinking that we once had values but that we do not have values now, and

that we should regain our values or choose new ones, is just another symptom of the

trouble. Heidegger claims that thinking about our deepest concerns as values is

nihilism.

"Every decision ... bases itself on something not mastered, something concealed,

confusing; else it would never be a decision."

Critical reflection is necessary in some situations where our ordinary way of coping is insufficient, 
but

such reflection cannot and should not play the central role it has played in the

philosophical tradition. 
What is most important and meaningful in our lives is not and should not be accessible to critical reflection.

Via Dreyfus, Heidegger on the Connection between Nihilism, Art, Technology, and Politics