3つのステップで人生が好転！―人生を変えるたった２つの言葉(TED)

BB: I grew up on a lake, no neighbours, my family was incredible, and they were really into sports, but I had a love for music. Right? So I was kind of like ‘woo’ – the little kid. What’s he doing playing the piano? So, one day, my mom took me for a walk when I was like eight, in the forest, and said, ’Bill, sit down. Now, here’s the thing, you’re going to do what you want to do in this life and no one’s going to tell you; we believe in you, so go for it!′ And I’ve carried that ‘yes and…’ with me for the rest of my life. It’s been pretty amazing. By the way, my family – a lot of them are into education as principals and teachers, and they’ve given to kids, so I had that in me too, so I’ve given to millions of kids all over the world by using music and pulling them together, which has been awesome.

RB: Wow. Great story, Bill. You know, the same for me is when I was four back in Australia, my cousin invited me to her ballet class. She stopped going. I stayed for the rest of my life. I got into classical ballet companies, dance companies, and own my own dance company. And I got to really live my life just by this simple action like Bill, of being able to say ‘yes and…’. ‘Yes and…’ is ‘Yes’ is the affirmative and ‘and’ being the action. And I think both of us took action in going forward in our lives. And we really were very excited to be able to share with you how you can say ‘yes and…’ to your life. These two small, powerful words, saying ‘yes’ to yourself and taking action translates to looking at the possibilities instead of the problems and being solution-oriented. We’re going to break it down into three areas that we believe make up the ‘yes and…’. The first one is being aware. Bill, do you want to tell the story about that?

BB: Sure! Let’s take you back when I was 18 years old, and I got the opportunity to tour the nation with Columbia Artists in the top theatres, right? And it was a two-hour performance – singing, dancing, acting. And because I was new, I did the least in the show, and I was scared to death with all these incredibly knowledgeable, talented artists. And in it, what happened was – it ran for three months, and I just sat at the rehearsal, took it all in and took pictures in my brain and learned every note that everybody sang, every step, and all the blocking and everything. And so what happened was, on the tour, any time someone was injured or was sick, or couldn’t be there for some reason, I would raise my hand, step in and do that part. Well, I got to do almost every solo in the two-hour show in the matter of those three months. Now, the next September, the company came together to do the show one more time, kind of go again, and the director couldn’t be there that day, and the producer goes, ’Oh my gosh, what am I going to do? Does anybody have any idea?′ And I raised my hand and I said, ’Hey, I know the show. I know what everybody does. I know all the notes and all the steps.′ He said, ‘OK, go for it.’ So I blocked this two-hour show on the spot. Then, the producer took me for a walk outside behind the building. He said, ‘Do you want to continue doing that?’ I said ‘Sure!’, and he says, ‘Your four years are covered in college. Good luck, buddy.’ Amazing, and that tells you – told me right then at 18 years old, it’s really important to be aware.

RB: Around the same time of my life, at 18, I was in The Australian Ballet company as a young member, and we got the opportunity to work with one of the most famous Russian choreographers and dancers of the time, Rudolf Nureyev. And he mounted this amazing production of Don Quixote. Well, being a young dancer, I was only in the corps de ballet. So I stayed in every rehearsal, watched, looked, listened, learnt everything that I could. And there was about a week before we opened at the Sydney Opera House – there was an opportunity to start the ballet with a whole acting scene, and at that time, it hadn’t been cast. And Rudolf Nureyev asked the whole company and said, ‘Does anybody want to try this? Does anybody want to go for this?’ And I put my hand up and said, ‘Yes, I do,’ and I went for it, and I worked with some of the senior dancers in that opening scene. And I can tell you that it was that moment of recognising, of being aware of what the whole scene was, about the whole ballet, and just taking it, trusting myself to be able to say, ‘Yes, I can do this.’ That really changed my life and the trajectory of my life as I went forward, so that definitely is one of the key components of success and part of the ‘yes and…’.

BB: All right, the next step is to trust yourself, right?

RB: Yeah, trusting yourself, trusting the truth inside, and believing you’ve got it.

BB: As you can tell, we love stories. So, you know, it started as I told you, when I was 18 and I did this and for the next 20 years, toured all over the world, never was home. Busy, busy, busy, busy. You know what I mean? But it was amazing, right? But then I finally realised that no, there’s something missing, and I realised I needed to stop. And what it was – there wasn’t one person in my life that was special, that I would become a team with, that would change my life. And I finally stopped and said, ’It’s going to happen really soon. I can feel it. I’m going to slow down.′ And all of a sudden, I went to a program that I just love, a dance festival. And I thought, I’m going to see this very soon; it’s going to happen. And I walked into the dance festival, and I walked into this room, and there she was, a lady in all white, a vision – it almost felt like a light was behind her. And I thought, there it is. And now my life’s going to change, and I finally found what I’ve been looking for. Ta-da!

BB: I knew.

RB: Well, you know, it’s amazing because at that time, I was in Australia with my own dance company, 40 years of age, and I had gone through some pretty painful time in those last years. I had gone through a really bad divorce. So there’s a lot of things happening that I felt like, wow, what is happening? (Laughter) And I always know that I have to trust myself and trust my own truth. And I had some opportunities to come to the United States, and when I did, it was the right thing. I met Bill, and, you know, I had to leave behind my family, my company, my life, all my friends, and yet, I know that as hard as that was, I knew I had to trust myself, and I did, and I went forward. And it’s been the greatest decision, the best decision ever. And so, we really, truly believe that, you know, when you’re at that moment when you have to make a decision, because this is the real – you have to say ‘yes’ to yourself, and you have to take the action. And that is when you say, ’Yes, I believe in myself. I trust myself.′

BB: Yeah, there’s friends there, there’s people, family that you can talk to, but the bottom line is deep in your soul, and you’re the one that knows what’s best for your life, and you need to follow that.

RB: Yeah. It’s great.

BB: OK, now the third and final step is going forward, right? That is so important, and it’s a great thing to learn. We’ve tried that in our life, you know, through all these years. Don’t go in the past, things that were trouble – don’t let them run you, go forward, and use your heart and soul, and go do what you really love and want to do on this Earth, you know what I mean? We think back in my past, the last 10 years, my mentor passed on the organisation to me, which was amazing, but it was a lot of work, but it was amazing, and I learned so much. And in the midst of it, I got cancer. And that was pretty intense, you know? I don’t know how much longer I’ll be on this Earth, but I was a fighter, and I don’t think you’re given more than you can handle. You can make things work, and I just believed and went forward, and I’m here and ready to live this life for some more time, you know?

RB: And last year, the global pandemic. Look at that. You know? Everything changed for us. Our jobs stopped. We moved across the country. And you know what both of us said? We can’t stop. We have to go forward. And we started our own company, and we’re going forward, bringing our hearts, our souls, as Bill said, and going forward, not looking back at the setbacks, but the set ups for us to go forward and be great and succeed, and we believe that for you. So, you know, go forward with all your dreams, too.

BB: True, a beautiful story. You know, I love telling stories, and a beautiful story that my founder had just a very few days left to be on this Earth, and so I went over to his home, just to be there with him. And when I walked up, he was asleep in a chair, and right when I walked up, he opened his eyes and grabbed my hand and wanted me to come in close. And then he just looked at me, beautifully with his heart and soul, and said, ‘The world needs you.’ And then he pulled back, and then he closed his eyes, and that’s the last time that I heard him speak or got to see him. And so I just really want to carry that on the rest of my life. That and what it is, is I realised he’s really talking about you – all of us. He’s talking about we all should go do what we’re on this Earth to do, and we’re needed right now. You know, you’ll do such great things, just believe in yourself. And as we said, ‘yes and…’. Go and do it!

RB: Yes, we believe in you, and go forward; we can’t wait to hear your great success stories. And I hope we inspired you, and we want to hear all your great stories, so go for it.

RB: We believe in you.
BB: Yes. BB and RB: Thank you, bye!

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