About Me

Life is full of ups and downs. I know this firsthand because I’ve lived through a lot of them - the struggles, the successes, and almost everything in between.

As an entrepreneur, business owner, parent, husband of over 30 years, and athlete, I’ve faced challenges in every area of life. There have been times when I felt lost in my marriage, my parenting, and my work. I've had to rehabilitate myself numerous times to overcome serious injuries, and face the fact that I seem to have an incurable case of Adult ADHD … and learn how to thrive in spite of it.

Hemingway wrote “ Life breaks us all, and we grow stronger in the broken places”. What this suggests is that failure, personal weakness, and unhappiness are a source of wisdom that can teach us the most about what an authentic, resilient life looks and feels like; maintaining a positive focus, correcting mistakes, and staying grounded through it all.

I have been an enthusiastic outdoorsman all of my life. I love the excitement and adventure of mountain biking, backcountry skiing, river kayaking, and pretty much doing anything outdoors. These experiences have taught me the value of preparation, friendship, teamwork, humility, flexibility, patience, perseverance, and the importance of getting back up when life knocks you down.

Even with all my successes, there have been spectacular failures and tough times: losing my brother to ALS, struggle as a business owner through the great depression of 2008, and Covid, losing a large investment to someone I trusted, losing close friends to misunderstandings, cancer, and accidents, periods of loneliness, depression, anxiety, and extended seasons of substance dependence. I have been married twice and divorced once, endured the disorientation of “empty nest” syndrome, and come to terms with the physical toll of aging.

I have wandered blindly through long dark periods of time where I had to rediscover who I was after life shifted around me. Believe me, I know what it feels like to wake up at 3 AM and wonder, “What the hell happened? Where did it all go? What am I going to do? If I am no longer the person I thought I was, then who am I? How do I fit in this new world?”

The turning point for me came when I realized that my happiness and life satisfaction -or lack of it- had everything to do with how I was thinking about my circumstances. My unhappiness and negative emotions were not always tied to the actual circumstances but rather how I was thinking about them. The lesson is, of course, that our personal fulfillment, and resilience do not depend on what happens to us, but on how we respond.

Using tools from the field of positive psychology and life coaching, I successfully and positively changed my life in my mid to late 50’s. I have been able to move through one of the darkest periods of my life, rebuild my marriage, strengthen my relationships, improve my health, find meaning in my daily routine and my work, and perhaps most importantly, feel productive, focused and energized.

I have been able to shift my mindset from constantly doing and achieving to simply being and becoming. I understand what Carl Rogers meant when he said that “the good life is a process, not a destination”. My goal is the process itself.

Today, I am a Certified Life Coach, and Certified Positive Psychology Coach. I help other men who are where I was a few short years ago; miserable, frustrated, stuck in their ways, and wanting more out of life. I leverage my life experience, and my training, and I use the same tools that helped me rebuild my marriage, change my career, and create meaning in my day to day life– tools to manage stress, build resilience, and create a life of purpose, vitality, and joy. I am a minimalist at heart. I keep it real, and f-bombs are encouraged if it helps - though research suggests it doesn’t.

Life is never perfect, but by learning to control your attention, thoughts, and actions, you can rewrite your future by transforming your current discomfort and challenge into an opportunity for learning, growth, and success - whatever that looks like for you. If this sounds interesting to you, then let’s talk about how we might work together to build a life that excites and energizes you, no matter what challenges you face.

Douglas Host