[1] [2] Early in his career, he worked as a high school guidance counselor, and went on to run a successful private therapy practice.

He became a popular professor of counselor education at St. John's University, where he was approached by a literary agent to put his ideas into book form.

[3] This launched Dyer's career as a motivational speaker and self-help author, during which he published 20 more best-selling books and produced a number of popular specials for PBS.

Influenced by thinkers such as Abraham Maslow and Albert Ellis, Dyer's early work focused on psychological themes such as motivation, self actualization and assertiveness.

Inspired by Swami Muktananda and New Thought,[citation needed] he promoted themes such as the "power of intention," collaborated with alternative medicine advocate Deepak Chopra on a number of projects, and was a frequent guest on the Oprah Winfrey Show.

He spent much of his first ten years in an orphanage on the east side of Detroit,[5] after his father walked out on the family, leaving his mother to raise three small boys.

[1] Dyer, a Detroit native,[9] worked as a high school guidance counselor there and as a professor of counseling psychology at St. John's University in New York City.

Literary agent Arthur Pine persuaded Dyer to document his theories in his first book, called Your Erroneous Zones (1976).

[10] Dyer quit his teaching job and began a publicity tour of the United States, doggedly pursuing bookstore appearances and media interviews ("out of the back of his station wagon", according to Michael Korda, making the best-seller lists "before book publishers even noticed what was happening"[11]).

[5] Dyer proceeded to build on his success with lecture tours, a series of audiotapes, PBS programs, and regular publication of new books.

[15][16] In his book, Wishes Fulfilled; Mastering the Art of Manifesting, Dyer also credited Saint Francis of Assisi and the Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu as foundational influences in his work.

In Chapter 8, "Cultivating a sense of Purpose," he recommended such strategies as "Do something you have never done before," "Make a point to talk to a stranger today," and "Stop defending things as they have always been.

Ellis admonished Dyer for unethically and unprofessionally failing to credit Ellis's work as the book's primary source, but he never took legal action as ultimately he felt overall gratitude for Dyer's work, writing: "Your Erroneous Zones is a good book, ... it has helped a great number of people, and ... it outlines the main principles of RET quite well,... with great simplicity and clarity.