Elizabeth Whitworth, Author at Shortform Books

“My Child Won’t Eat”: How to Foster Bodily Autonomy in Kids

Have you ever said, “My child won’t eat”? Is the dinner table a battlefield in your house? Bodily autonomy enables a child to say “no” when they don’t feel comfortable with something. That can be incredibly important when a threat is real. It also can be incredibly frustrating if they’re exercising bodily autonomy when they don’t want to eat Brussels sprouts. Keep reading to learn how to deal with a child who doesn’t want to eat and how to encourage bodily autonomy in the right ways at the right times.

How to Overcome Creative Blocks: 5 Challenges & Solutions

Do you feel like you don’t have enough time for creative work? Are you stuck on a project? How can creative blocks be turned into creative opportunities? Whether you’re a creative professional, an entrepreneur, or anyone seeking to reclaim their creativity, Manage Your Day-to-Day inspires you toward reaching your full potential. In the book, Mark McGuinness addresses five creative blocks and provides strategies to help you lean into these challenges. Keep reading to learn how to overcome creative blocks and break through toward success.

Dr. Becky: Tantrums Help Your Child Know What They Want

What, exactly, is a tantrum? What role do tantrums play in a child’s development? What’s the best way to deal with them? According to Dr. Becky, tantrums are one of the most common challenges that parents face. She suggests specific approaches for handling tantrums so that you can foster behavioral change without jeopardizing your connection to your child. Read more to learn Dr. Becky’s approach to emotional tantrums.

How to Develop a Creative Routine: 3 Steps to Real Progress

Do you prioritize your creative projects, or are they always on the back burner? Do you treat your creative work as a marathon or just a scattered series of sprints? Many creative professionals suggest that the first step to becoming more creative is prioritizing creative work. The best way to do this is to build a routine around your projects. Without an intentional creative routine, they argue, it’s unlikely you’ll ever make significant progress on your biggest and best ideas. Keep reading to get tips from Mark McGuinness, Daniel H. Pink, Cal Newport, Gretchen Rubin, and Tony Schwartz on establishing

The Dictionary of Body Language: A Field Guide to Human Behavior

Do you want to better understand nonverbal communication? Do you wish you could read people’s emotions using their body language? In The Dictionary of Body Language: A Field Guide to Human Behavior, retired FBI Special Agent Joe Navarro offers a reference guide that explains a wide breadth of body language cues. The guide is intended to create a foundation you can use to study and interpret nonverbal communication. Continue reading for an overview of this book that provides a broad introduction to body language.

Dr. Becky: Separation Anxiety & Bedtime Struggles Are Solvable

Is your child afraid to be away from you, even when just going to bed? What’s the anxiety really about? According to Dr. Becky, separation anxiety results from your child’s natural wiring. Children need to feel safe, and their sense of security comes largely from their parents’ presence. Dr. Becky shares several tools you can use to soothe separation anxiety, especially at bedtime. Continue reading to discover how to put these strategies into practice in your family.

An Introduction to Body Language: 2 Tips to Understand Its Context

How confident are you that you can read body language accurately? Do you know how to read cues collectively or just individually? You can use many body language cues to reliably and consistently assess someone’s emotional state. But, retired FBI Special Agent Joe Navarro says that there are some contextual factors to consider before forming conclusions based on your observations. Read more to get an introduction to body language from Navarro by exploring two of his tips for assessing the context of cues.

How to Stay Creative: 4 Ways to Maintain Your Inspiration

Do you make time for unstructured creativity? Do you tend toward perfectionism? How often do you unplug from technology? According to many creative professionals and productivity experts, creativity is the result of consistent work habits coupled with a creative mindset. You can foster such a mindset by prioritizing unstructured creativity, rejecting perfectionism, leaning into challenges, and taking opportunities to unplug. Keep reading to learn how to stay creative by following this recipe.

Wired for Story by Lisa Cron: Book Overview & Takeaways

Why is it hard to explain what makes a story good? How does that impact our ability to write good stories? What can we do to overcome that difficulty and craft interesting narratives? In Wired for Story, Lisa Cron argues that our brains evolved to absorb information through stories. So, writers who want to create compelling narratives should write in a way that satisfies our brains’ expectations of story. Continue reading for an overview of this book that takes a fresh approach to story writing.

Becky Kennedy’s Good Inside: Book Overview & Takeaways

Are you letting a negativity bias affect your parenting? How can you get your kids to actually want to be obedient? When is silliness an effective parenting technique? Becky Kennedy’s Good Inside helps parents effect sustainable behavior changes in their kids while building positive relationships with them. Our overview lays out Kennedy’s core principles, her toolkit for dealing with challenging behavior, and explanations and solutions for common parenting challenges. Continue reading for an overview of this practical parenting manual.