Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Bruce Hurd. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Bruce, appreciate you joining us today. Can you tell us about a time where you or your team really helped a customer get an amazing result?

My success as an author coach revolves completely around the success of my clients.

– Did the first-time authors I mentored successfully publish their books?
– Are they proud of what they accomplished? Do they eagerly share their books with loved ones, friends, and colleagues?
– Do their books inspire themselves and others? Has it led to other opportunities?
– Most importantly, did they enjoy the process, and do they want to continue writing?

My first two clients proudly published their books in April 2021, both of which enjoyed great success. One was written by Bob Hendrickson, an Air Force friend I flew with when we were stationed together as pilots in the mid-1980s. In his very engaging book, he explored his fascinating life of adventure and accomplishment with emotion and self-awareness. Well received by all who read it, Bob’s book rose to become the #1 new release in the Air Force Biographies category on Amazon within a week of being published.

The second of the two authors had even more astounding success. Written by an inspiring, compassionate leader named Doug Davidson, his book is filled with engaging stories of determination, courage, integrity, and achievement. Rapidly rising to become an Amazon #1 international bestseller, Doug’s extraordinary book has opened additional opportunities for him as a highly sought after podcast guest and successful public speaker. Recently, he launched his “Be Kind” initiative to globally increase awareness of the powerful importance of treating others with respect and kindness.

Both Bob and Doug are excellent examples of the success I help my clients work towards.

Bruce, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

After completing a thoroughly enjoyable and rewarding 30-year Air Force career, serving as a pilot and in other leadership positions, I retired from the military at the rank of colonel in 2007. I then reinvented myself as a successful software development program manager at a large technology company in San Diego. In 2015, I voluntarily went to part-time status with my employer to focus on a more inspirational activity: writing my story.

My intent was to put in words all of the amazing events and people in my life, especially family, friends, and all of the adventures surrounding my Air Force career. I expected my book to focus on all of the incredible people and wonderful experiences I appreciate in my life, and that’s where I started. What I discovered was that I kept being drawn to write about traumatic events that took place, often when I was a child.

As a result, I was inspired to explore the feelings and emotions surrounding my growing up with an alcoholic mother, a humiliating incident with a beloved six-grade teacher, going through a wrenching divorce in my late 20s, and other painful experiences. Most importantly, I wanted the focus to be on the positive lessons I learned from each of these experiences and how they helped me succeed throughout my Air Force career and beyond, rather than seeing myself as a helpless victim.

In September 2019, I published my memoir, “Aim Point: An Air Force Pilot’s Lessons for Navigating Life,” which became an Amazon #1 bestseller within a week of its release. During the book signing events I held (just prior to Covid), I discovered there was enormous interest from audience members in writing and publishing their own stories. Easily, the #1 question I was asked was, “how can I do what you did?” There’s so much mystery surrounding the book creation, editing, and publishing promise, that the vast majority of “would be” authors are too intimidated to even begin.

This is why I created the “Make Your Book a Reality” writing program in 2020. My program is specifically designed to help first-time authors write, edit, and publish their books from an inspired, creative perspective. While much of my focus is on helping veterans, I coach a wide variety of men and women from vastly different backgrounds and creative intentions with diversified writing styles.

I teach the same processes and techniques I used to create my story. My program involves participation in a virtual weekend writing retreat followed by one-on-one coaching sessions with individual authors. An important part of what I do is helping inspire writers to follow through on their commitment by providing detailed guidance and holding them accountable through regular meetings. I also emphasize the primary benefits of becoming a published author:

– Boosting credibility by demonstrating knowledge and expertise;
– Increasing self-confidence by proudly mastering a lifetime goal;
– Providing much-needed service to others; and
– Giving themselves the gift of self-therapy by expressing their truths in a genuine, heartfelt way.

Over 80% of adults rightfully feel they have an amazing book inside of them, yet, only a small fraction of 1% ever publish their stories. The reason the vast majority of people never accomplish their dream of being a published author is fear of failure. They are afraid of how their book will be received, afraid of what people might think of them, afraid of starting and not finishing, etc., etc. My course and the post-retreat coaching I provide are specifically designed to help first-time authors succeed in creating and proudly publishing their inspiring stories. Most importantly, I have found the authors I work with embrace and enjoy the entire process tremendously. Come join us!

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

Recently, I took an inspiring, eye-opening course based on the teachings of the late Bob Proctor. One of the central themes of the course revolved around setting goals. Specifically, the emphasis was on setting huge, almost frightening goals that we have no idea how we’re going to achieve. While this sounds counter-intuitive — as if we’re setting ourselves up for failure by not working towards a goal we know how to achieve — by choosing a huge, “unachievable” goal, the end result is that we seek and find solutions and opportunities we would never have discovered had we just focused on what we are comfortable doing.

As a result, I was inspired to create the following huge goal for myself:

“I’m so happy and grateful now that I have inspired one million people to create and publish their inspiring books. I’m so thankful this has happened.”

Notice that the goal is written as if I am giving thanks that it has already occurred. This is intentional, as I help train my mind to look at this goal as something that is completely possible — almost inevitable.

At this point, relatively early in my journey, I have no idea how this will manifest. I fully understand that my business will need to scale up exponentially, I will need to find others with skill and vision to assist me, and I will need to find funding to support this expansion … and I don’t have answers to this right now.

What I do have are inspiration and vision. I believe in this goal. I believe it can be achieved, and I believe I have the skills and ability to see it through successfully.

While I have never done anything like this before, I have had success in other fields. I have flown an Air Force jet faster than the speed of sound. I have led a 550-person KC-135 group to twice being named the #1 tanker unit in the entire Air Force. And I have already written and published my inspiring book, one that achieved Amazon #1 bestseller status.

If I had not set “becoming a published author of a book I’m very proud to call mine” as a goal in 2017, it would never have happened. We all can do this. I promise.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

As the last assignment of my career, the Air Force assigned me to a position completely different from anything I had ever done. I became the Chief of the Office of Defense Cooperation at the American Embassy in Brussels. My team of officers and I worked directly for the U.S. Ambassador to Belgium. I had little knowledge regarding what the roles and responsibilities of the position entailed, yet there I was: the guy in charge.

Not only that, the Air Force had sent my wife and me to French-language school so we could at least attempt to talk with the Belgian military and government representatives in their own language. And, of course, our family had to move from the United States to Europe; this even included our two family cats. As exciting as all of this was, it was also overwhelming.

And then one of my life’s most embarrassing events occurred. During my first week on the job, I was meeting with a Belgian defense contractor in downtown Brussels (the capital of Belgium).
I remember having difficulty even finding the restaurant, not to mention a parking space, among the narrow, winding backstreets of the city, so I was a little late. While the contractor and I were talking and eating lunch, a piece of meat got stuck in my throat, clogging my windpipe. It soon became clear I was choking. The gentleman I was meeting with got up and slapped me on the back. That was enough to do the trick. It helped dislodge the piece of meat and I started breathing normally.

While I didn’t die physically, I did nearly die of embarrassment. It was a terrible start to what turned out to be a fantastic assignment. And there’s no question in my mind that my choking at the restaurant was directly related to me feeling choked and overwhelmed by the responsibilities and requirements of this new position I held.

This story has a happy ending. I learned the responsibilities of my new job without further medical incident. After about one year in my position, both the U.S. and Belgium asked me to preside over a bilateral conference between our two air forces. The issue at hand was the Belgian desire to purchase American-made targeting pods for their F-16 fighters. This was important to the U.S. military for a variety of reasons far beyond the small size of the Belgian purchase. The price and capability differences between what the two sides wanted were enormous, and there was little hope among the participants that the negotiations would be successful.

Fortunately, though, I was the senior officer present and was able to set the proper tone right off the bat. I began our conference by reminding everyone of our common goal: to come to a mutual agreement on this contract all parties would embrace. I assured them my goal was to ensure everyone present had a chance to voice their opinions and concerns. I also emphasized there would be no pressure on anyone to accept a position they were uncomfortable with.

The relief in the room was palpable. After three days, the Belgians had pulled back some of their requirements, thereby reducing the overall costs. American acquisition representatives adjusted their perspectives on what they considered Belgium’s fair share of the setup costs — this reduced the costs tremendously.

By the time we finished, we negotiated the price down to something that was mutually acceptable and everyone left happy. The senior Belgian officer present approached me afterward to tell me he was in disbelief that we had come to an agreement — he didn’t think it was possible before the meeting. Four months later, a similar situation arose on a different contract regarding the purchase of modern helmet-mounted displays for the Belgian F-16s. The first thing the Belgians and the Americans did was arrange for a negotiating conference. Both sides asked for me specifically to preside over the gathering. I went from choking to chairman in a little more than a year. Not bad.

Because I was resilient in this situation, I helped turn a disastrous start in a foreign environment into a successful assignment. The primary reason for this success was my belief in myself and trust in others. This lesson helped carry me through life after the Air Force, too. I have confidence in my ability to adapt to new and changing circumstances. More importantly, I approach people from a perspective of trust. This belief in others has paid off wonderfully throughout my life, including in my current business venture.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.colbrucehurd.com
• Instagram: colbrucehurd77
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bruce.e.hurd
• Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/bruce-hurd-8131926
• Twitter: @colbrucehurd
• Youtube: Col Bruce Hurd

Image Credits
All are personal photos or images created by me.