What if Big Brother was watching you?

This week saw the return of the Channel 4 phenomenon Big Brother for the 11th and final time.

I’m writing this before the housemates have been revealed, so I’m not going to comment on the people in the house this year.

However, what is certain is that their every waking (and sleeping) moment will be under scrutiny from the multitude of cameras around the house and gardens and talked about in homes, workplaces and pubs across the country for the next few weeks.

They will also enter the house acutely aware of the cameras and their behaviour will be modified to reflect that.

It’s only later, when they start to forget the cameras that they start to let their guard, and sometimes themselves, down and exhibit different behaviour.

But what if we imagine being watched by Big Brother 24 hours a day?

How can we take anything positive from this kind of scrutiny?

Noted Leadership trainer John E Jones said “What gets measured, gets done.

What gets measured and fed back gets done well.

What gets rewarded gets repeated.”

 

 

How would you perform and behave in daily life if everything you did was monitored, fed back on and rewarded?

Let’s use this thought in a positive way.

I’ve heard many people say that they starve themselves the day before going to their scheduled slimming meeting because they know they are going to get weighed.

When we know we are going to be monitored, we modify our behaviour.

If you were looking to get fit and healthy and your health coach could monitor you 24 hours a day, would you skip a day because you felt a little tired?

Would you eat take away 3 nights running?

Probably not.

So, let’s take advantage of this by being our own “Big Brother” for just a week as an experiment.

First, write down something that you want to achieve by the end of the week.

Monitor yourself at all times and reflect on how you’re doing.

Build in a reward system so you can have a treat at the end of the week when you’ve succeeded.

Notice how your behaviour changes when you’re actively monitoring yourself.

Succeed, repeat and enjoy succeeding again.

As for whether to watch Big Brother, that’s up to you!