How do authors of life improvement books avoid giving advice that might be unitentional plagiarizism?

There’s no plagiarism involved with dispensing common knowledge. That doesn’t mean you’re free to xerox someone’s work and stick your name on it.

You personalize common sense. Or, as @stanleybmanly puts it, common knowledge.

The authors tell their story. Your life cannot have been written by someone else.

They need to study and put time in researching any prior works. If they paraphrase or quote: document, document, document! One can use works to create or develop their own thesis or idea, but it is a legal and expensive hot potato if you don’t even acknowledge those whose works or ideas might have influenced you.

@msh but some things I’ve thought someone else might have published first. I need to check? Meh, I think if you definitely were influenced then younremember and attribute. If not, take your chances!

It’s kind of like stealing songs or lyrics, in music. Marvin Gaye’s kids are with their fingers on the pulse of plagiarizers. Arianna Grande( sp?) has a song so close to a Roy Orbison song, it makes me twitch- however his family has distanced themselves. Who knows, but the statute of limitations varies. I’d have a care- for my own work. That’s just me…twitching to the music.

I have often thought about this too!

It seems like there are a great deal of self-help gurus out there that simply recycle old philosophy, which is a bit annoying. However, if they make it more accessible and credit their school of thought to the originator then I see no problem in it. It’s then a question of whether something; an idea, art, philosophy, knowledge, perspective…can be truly original in its creativity…and that’s a much more complex question

Have someone else proof your work. You can also use Copyscape to check your work and to be able to see what is common with your work and the work of others. From there, you can improve your work, make correct references and citations.

Thanks @JoieGahum exactly what I needed.