An Unexpected Coaching Tool: The Bravo TV Reunion
If you are alive in the 21st century, you’ve probably heard of Bravo TV reality show reunions.
Bravo TV has a host of reality TV shows — The Real Housewives of Orange County, The Real Housewives of New York City, Vanderpump Rules, etc. etc.
And a grand tradition of the reality show genre (on Bravo and beyond) is the reunion show.
Several months after the season has finished filming, all the cast members gather together in one room to fight, talk, make accusations, throw shade, and discuss the season that just wrapped up — all while a host moderates.
It’s some of the trashiest, most fun TV you can watch.
And it’s also an unexpected coaching tool you can use on yourself :)
Here’s how—
Most life problems spring from an inner conflict – from two different parts of you going to war with each other.
This could look like…
Yesterday You felt like procrastinating. Today You is mad that the work isn’t done.
Confident You thinks that things are on track. Anxious You is worried you’re getting complacent.
Annoyed You rolls their eyes when your kid asks to play the same boring game again. Guilty You feels bad that you don’t enjoy playing with them.
The “Bravo TV reunion” helps the different, conflicting parts of you find common ground.
When an inner conflict happens, I want you to imagine that you are the host of a reality TV reunion show.
You aren’t any one of your emotions. Imagine yourself as the neutral moderator. (You’re Andy Cohen :)
Then, place every part of you in their own reunion show chair.
And once everyone is in their seat…
Let every part of you say its piece while you (the moderator) hear it out.
This setup helps you be the observer of your emotions rather than identifying with them 100%.
You, as the moderator, might say things like…
So here we have Yesterday Pooja, who felt like procrastinating, and Today Pooja, who is mad that the work isn’t done.
Yesterday Pooja, I want to turn it over to you. Today Pooja is claiming that you procrastinated because you’re lazy and uncommitted.
But we want to hear YOUR side of the story. Why did you procrastinate?
And often, you’ll find out that Yesterday You did NOT procrastinate out of laziness or lack of commitment.
They procrastinated out of overwhelm, or fear of failing, or not understanding the point of doing this thing.
This setup prevents “third party gossip” and helps you hear the truth straight from the source.
Because not only do you have different parts of you that have come into conflict…
But the different parts of you are telling gossipy stories about each other!
Today You is saying, “Yesterday You is so lazy.”
Anxious You is saying, “Confident You is just complacent.”
Guilty You is saying, “Annoyed You hates their kid.”
But often, that gossip couldn’t be farther from the truth!
Yesterday You isn’t lazy — they’re scared.
Confident You isn’t complacent — they’re on top of things.
Annoyed You doesn’t hate their kid — they’re tired and overstimulated.
When you go into the Bravo TV reunion setup, you can separate gossip from truth.
And you can turn the microphone over to the part of you that’s being attacked and ask it: “Why don’t you tell YOUR side of the story?”
This setup gives you all the information you need to reconcile the inner conflict.
Every part of you is good.
Every part of you makes sense.
Every part of you is just doing its best, out of absolute love for you.
The problem is not with any particular part of you.
The problem is just that all these inherently good parts of you have run into a conflict.
When you put all those parts into a Bravo TV reunion, you can give them the airtime to fully say their piece.
And once everyone has said their piece, you (the moderator) can look at everything you’ve learned and decide what you want to do next.
Learning how to separate yourself from, observe, and talk to your own emotions is a critical life skill.
It helps you have love and compassion for yourself and your own reactions.
It helps you make sense of your own automatic impulses, rather than just being ruled by them.
It helps you respond to what life throws at you, instead of just reacting to it.
We should all be taught this skill in grade school.
And yet…
I didn’t learn it in Harvard College.
I didn’t learn it in Harvard Business School.
I didn’t learn it at Boston Consulting Group.
I only learned this critical life skill in coaching.
My life became immeasurably better once I learned this skill AND learned how to put it into practice in my day-to-day life.
And I’ve made it my mission in life to bring these critical life skills to YOU too.
This is just ONE of the critical life skills you’ll learn in my course & coaching program: Less Stress, More Flow.
And for every skill — you’ll learn it in theory AND you’ll have robust support to help you put it into practice every day of your life.
Join the program waitlist today.
What my clients have to say…
“I think the biggest transformation is not hating my brain.
Now, I work with it and am like, ‘Oh, right, it's doing this to protect me. Thanks, brain!’
I love that I have this relationship with my brain that’s like a partnership.”
—Client | CEO, PE-backed company
Did you know I have a full table of contents, where all my work is categorized by topic, so you can easily find what you need right now? Check it out below! :)
💻 Website | 📸 Instagram | 🎧 Podcast | 💌 Newsletter | 👋🏽 Free resources