Good Inside Book Summary - Good Inside Book explained in key points
Listen to the Intro
00:00

Good Inside summary

Becky Kennedy

A Guide to Becoming the Parent You Want to Be

4.6 (401 ratings)
16 mins
Table of Contents

    Good Inside
    Summary of 7 key ideas

    Audio & text in the Blinkist app
    Key idea 1 of 7

    Behavior is not the problem.

    Before we begin, let’s make one point clear: Your child is good inside. No matter what. When he’s hitting his little sister with a shoe, he’s good inside. When she’s telling you she hates you, she’s good inside.

    Agreeing to the “good inside” belief is the foundation for everything that’s coming next. Because once you treat your children, yourself, and everyone, really, with the understanding that they’re inherently good inside, you’ll start to make more generous interpretations of their behavior.

    In fact, the first thing you need to do when situations get tough is take a breath and choose the most generous interpretation or MGI of the situation. Holding on to the MGI helps you approach your child with compassion and a desire to understand, rather than jumping to anger and blame.

    Next, you need to accept the fundamental truth that two things can be true at the same time. Even if the two things don’t necessarily get along with each other. For instance, your child wants ice cream for breakfast, and you don’t allow them to have ice cream for breakfast. When you allow both things to be true, you won’t feel the need to completely change your child’s feelings.

    In this way, the good-inside method isn’t about honoring feelings and giving children whatever they want; it’s about honoring feelings and holding boundaries.

    All of this leads to the final piece of the foundation you need for building better relationships with your children: know your job. Know that it’s your job to hold boundaries, but it’s not your job to change your child’s feelings.

    Now, let’s learn how to build on these concepts.

    Want to see all full key ideas from Good Inside?

    Key ideas in Good Inside

    More knowledge in less time
    Read or listen
    Read or listen
    Get the key ideas from nonfiction bestsellers in minutes, not hours.
    Find your next read
    Find your next read
    Get book lists curated by experts and personalized recommendations.
    Shortcasts
    Shortcasts New
    We’ve teamed up with podcast creators to bring you key insights from podcasts.

    What is Good Inside about?

    Good Inside (2022) offers hope to parents who feel helpless when it comes to managing conflict in their homes. More than parenting, it’s about loving yourself and extending that love to your children. Dr. Becky rejects traditional reward and punishment strategies, instead encouraging parents to seek understanding with their children while still maintaining healthy boundaries.

    Who should read Good Inside?

    • New parents
    • Parents who are afraid it’s too late to change how they parent
    • People healing from emotional damage

    About the Author

    Dr. Becky Kennedy is a clinical psychologist, mother of three, and founder of Good Inside, a membership platform that gives parents the education and skills they need to heal their family and move forward empowered and full of love for both themselves and their children. Along with the book Good Inside, Dr. Becky offers workshops, runs a podcast, and uses her thriving social media accounts to make her parenting techniques accessible to as many people as possible.

    Categories with Good Inside

    Books like Good Inside

    People ❤️ Blinkist
    Sven O.

    It's highly addictive to get core insights on personally relevant topics without repetition or triviality. Added to that the apps ability to suggest kindred interests opens up a foundation of knowledge.

    Thi Viet Quynh N.

    Great app. Good selection of book summaries you can read or listen to while commuting. Instead of scrolling through your social media news feed, this is a much better way to spend your spare time in my opinion.

    Jonathan A.

    Life changing. The concept of being able to grasp a book's main point in such a short time truly opens multiple opportunities to grow every area of your life at a faster rate.

    Renee D.

    Great app. Addicting. Perfect for wait times, morning coffee, evening before bed. Extremely well written, thorough, easy to use.

    People also liked

    Start growing with Blinkist now
    27 Million
    Downloads on all platforms
    4.7 Stars
    Average ratings on iOS and Google Play
    91%
    Of Blinkist members create a better reading habit*
    *Based on survey data from Blinkist customers
    Powerful ideas from top nonfiction

    Try Blinkist to get the key ideas from 7,000+ bestselling nonfiction titles and podcasts. Listen or read in just 15 minutes.

    Start your free trial