Introduction
Fried Chicken is Awesome
Finding YOUR way in a world gone mad
Brad Allen
Choice!
In searching for certainty about choosing the right path, there is a stark truth. The truth is that choice carries burden. The burden of past and future choices. Without a crystal ball to see the future, and without the right skills, relief from the burden of choice comes down to one shocking reality. It means giving up the ability to choose. Giving up choice, or more importantly, not taking responsibility for the outcomes, frees you of the burden of choice. However, that freedom comes at a huge cost.
I am serious when I say fried chicken is awesome. I concede that the first few mouthfuls are the best. The spices, the load of salt and the grease. And I concede it’s a downwards spiral after that. However, all that doesn’t diminish how good it was at the start. It doesn’t take from the intention to eat it. It doesn’t take from the belief in the awesomeness of those first few bites.
In this striking and open account, I share my fall, the growth and the insights as I found my way.
I share how I found choice without burden.
Why?
The world I live in, is messed up and has been largely a miserable experience.
- There just doesn’t seem to be enough time;
- fitness is a struggle;
- health is a big concern
- money is a challenge to hold onto;
- friendships are harder to maintain than we imagined;
- our kids are on devices all the time;
- love and passion are elusive;
- and on top of all of that, social media shows us that everyone else is fully engaged with their loved ones, rich, sexy and having a truly wonderful life.
I took the path that led to this book because I truly want to make my own choices and define my own way. Whilst it took time, I realized I wanted something more than the existence I had become accustom to. I no longer wanted to be a drone entertaining myself to pass the time until I take my final breath. I wanted a better experience of life for myself and the generations that follow. I wanted to see less friction in my interactions with loved ones, my communities and within my workplaces. I went searching for a better experience of the world and a better understanding of my place in it.
I didn’t find a magic wand or some wonderfully simple seven-step plan. What I found was unexpected but relatively obvious. I don’t have all the answers. I still face challenges. I still find myself blindsided on idle Tuesdays. I still must work hard to be and get what I need and want. However, so much more of it makes sense to me now. There is less friction and there is less resistance, across all the spectrums of my life. There is near to no sense of burden, and yet I am making my own choices.
I followed the path to this book because I uncovered that I am not unique. Others share these wants. It’s for this reason that I decided to share the things I’ve learnt along the way, in a hope that my learning could in some way, even if only in a small measure, help others.
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What's in the book?
Fried Chicken is Awesome is a practical guide to self-improvement. It explores what worked for me in achieving greater levels of fulfilling engagement and realizing choice without burden.
This book contains more than two dozen self-coaching topics, spread across four themes:
- In Part 1, I explore how limiting beliefs and associated behaviors let me down, specifically when I am with others.
- In Part 2, I focus on the idea of realistic optimism and how it provides a better approach to making choices.
- In Part 3, I explore thinking, emotions, socializing, and the physical aspects of the personal experience of engaging with life.
- The final part of the book is where I share what helped me create momentum. This section of the book aims to dive deeply into the potential of the ideas shared in Parts 1 through 3. This final section of the book stitches the various threads together in understanding how I realized choice without burden. I share what worked for me in finding it, understanding it, and keeping it.
The self-coaching topics are supported by observations about my behavior and experiences, as well as those that I have worked with as a coach, mentor and facilitator. My path has been influenced by many thought leaders including Peter Drucker, Myles Downey, David Allen, David Rock, Mark Goulston, Eckhart Tolle, Daniel Goleman, Greg McKeown, Marshall Goldsmith, Chris Bailey, Chip & Dan Heath, Neale Donald Walsch, Cal Newport, William Whitecloud, Tim Minchin, Jordan B Peterson, Adam Grant, Shelley Crawford, and Amy Brann.
This book is the learning from my experience, shared using stories and examples. This book is the “If I was starting over story” but tossed into the blender with a bunch of realistic optimism. It’s aimed at offering some sort of comfort and perhaps options for those on the edge of similar situations, and how they might endure and create better experiences for themselves and those they love.
Who is Brad?
I bring a wealth of personal and professional experience, as a father of five, as an accredited coach/mentor, as a facilitator and as a tech sector professional with 25 plus years’ experience.
My niche is to help others fall in love with their life again.
I am a relatively normal Australian male in my late forties. I did normal life stuff and still failed to find traction and my place in the madness. I met an Irish lass in Sydney, followed her to Ireland, got married, had children, built the big house, and created the picture-perfect life. It all then imploded spectacularly. Not because of infidelity, simply because of who we were and what we were conditioned to believe was important.
In trying to rationalize it all, I explored the classic and popular ways to self-help. I changed careers so I could devote more time to learning about how things should work. I coached, I got coached and I engaged in therapy. I gave attention to understanding how I could get closer to the “right place to start from”. Eventually I got there, but it wasn’t the place I expected to be when I started.
I have coached and mentored dozens of professionals, managers and leaders. I have also facilitated group learning and problem solving across the globe. I have a Master’s in business administration, and I am an accredited practitioner with the European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC).
Learn more about me at bradallen.coach
Get in touch!
More about Brad: www.bradallen.coach
email: info@friedchickenisawesome.com
phone: +353 (0)21 234 8008