Ep 80: How prioritizing increases your happiness with Lawrence E. Adjah

Lawrence E. Adjah, MBA, M.Ed, M.Div. is an Author, Spiritual Advisor, Host, Community Builder and relationship thought leader who has been on a mission to help high achieving professionals and communities establish and strengthen their most important relationships [with God, people & themselves (mind & body)].

He’s widely known for his work around the issue of loneliness in the digital age, founding and leading a movement, Our Family Dinner (Family Dinner Foundation), which reached nearly 50,000 young adults across nearly 40 cities around the world for over a decade.

His work has been featured in Ebony, Black Enterprise, Essence, The Chicago & Miami Tribunes and other nationally syndicated news and media outlets. He currently serves as Host and panelist for the Just Heal, Bro global tour for mental health and wellness amongst men, and hosts the show “Watch God Work.”

He is a licensed and ordained Minister (of the Gospel), a Prepare-Enrich Certified Marriage Counselor, Chaplain & Coach who leads a successful private gospel-based practice which specializes in one-on-one & couple-based spiritual advisory, direction, (pre) marital counseling & chaplain and life coaching services for professionals & professional organizations, in and out of season professional athletes, traveling healthcare and other remote professionals including deployed military and more. Lawrence began his career at McKinsey & Company, after being an All-American track & field athlete.

Lawrence holds a B.A., from Harvard University, an MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business, an M.Ed from The University of Texas at Austin with distinction and a Masters of Divinity (M.Div) from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary where he was a faculty-selected recipient of the Preaching Award from the Division of Practical Theology and the John D. Tate awardee.

MAIN TAKEAWAYS:

• It [Community]still matters because humans need proximity, energy, and interaction to thrive. For example, showing up in times of crisis vs a phone call shows the need for connection and human interaction. Lawrence said, “hearing the claps of celebration in person satisfies proximity and connection.”
• We learned during the pandemic what we should never take for granted. 
• However the pandemic and the conditions it created opened up opportunities for connecting with people from all over the world. 
• When it comes to time management, Adjah expresses that everyone has a choice to make, and prioritizing your time is part of the way to make those decisions when it comes to your family and career.  
• We want to do it all but we have to prioritize and be comfortable with what we can’t do. If you try to do everything you end up doing nothing. 
• Trying to do it all at the same time is what Adjah calls the “Cheesecake Factory Effect”…we get so much information daily and we must choose. Time management is a struggle.
• It’s hard to have a quality life with depth and it involves choosing who and what to spend your life interacting with. We must make choices of what’s most valuable to us without feeling we are diminishing the value of other options.
• Living intentionally vs following the societal norm or traditions, is imperative to not have regrets.  Adjah said you can’t control regrets at the end and he decided to live more intentionally with his time because he wants no regrets if he has no more time left.
• Knowing you put in work to intentionally be present and intentionally act success. 
• If you think the cost of success is too high wait till you get the bill for regret.”
• We all desire to recreate ourselves and we must be honest that Ai and robot use is possibility. The motive behind it is important. How can using robots make humanity better and improve the good of society? It can be exciting but also makes us look at our values and ethics before it’s put into play. 
• Adjah was in a Cadillac commercial and was able to collaborate with GM and Cadillac “by grace” and represent the community. Adjah speaks of alignment and not overvaluing his contribution but the freeing power of knowing you are doing the best you can and adding value from someone wanting to work with you. 
• We are living in a time where things are happening economically and people are not time for fluff, they want everything straight to the point. There’s an instability present that can shift easily. Having faith helps when everything starts to go upside down Reading or (Listening to) your Bible can have a deep impact on your faith and help you to learn. 
• He also encourages everyone to have a living will, because life is not promised. Do people know what to do when a crisis happens in their life? Is there a task list of things to do?