What is a Good Life?

What is it about dogs?

It's the question Doug Skoke has been sitting with and it turns out, trying to understand what makes his golden doodle Harley tick has become one of his most impactful explorations of how to actually live well.

Doug is the Founder & CEO of LFG NOW!, a boutique executive search firm, and a Gallup-certified CliftonStrengths Coach - but what defines him more than any title is a lifelong obsession with people, energy, and what it means to show up fully in your own life. A daily meditator and firm believer in the Platinum Rule - treat others as they prefer to be treated - Doug has spent over a decade exploring practical and spiritual approaches to growth, resilience, and presence.

What begins as a question about why dogs are so emotionally regulating opens into one covering grief, crisis, dialectical behavioural therapy, the self-love pendulum, radical acceptance, and what it actually means to lift others up.

Whether you're drawn to mindfulness, emotional intelligence, personal growth, or just an honest human conversation - this episode is for you.

For more from Doug Skoke:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dougskoke/

For more from Mark McCartney:
Newsletter: https://www.whatisagood.life/
Website: https://www.mmcleadership.com/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-mccartney-14b0161b4/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/ ⁨@whatisagoodlife3875⁩  

00:00  Five Years In The Making
01:15  What Is It About Dogs?
03:30  The Thought Bubble Cartoon
06:00  What Dogs Know About Presence
09:09  When His Brother Died
11:14  Alma's Unwavering Welcome
13:20  Angels In Disguise
18:50  Unconditional, Every Single Moment
24:20  The Dog He Almost Gave Away
30:53  Learning To Regulate
40:15  The Self-Love Pendulum
1:01:08  What Is A Good Life for Doug?

What is What is a Good Life??

A project exploring the big questions around how we live, who we are and what actually matters. Over the past four years, I’ve sat with more than 300 people — artists, parents, executives, wanderers, therapists, and strangers and invited them into a simple but profound inquiry, "What is a good life for you?"
The conversations explore presence, paradox, uncertainty, and the moments that shape a life - love and loss, trust and fear, clarity and not knowing. It’s an invitations to slow down, to listen deeply, and to bring you into conversation with your own life. There are new episodes every Tuesday.