Greg DeLaval, B.Sc., M.Ed.
Educator - Lecturer - Coach - Researcher - Father - Athlete
DOMAINS™
The Practical Science
of Human Flourishing
Inspired by Aristotle's Concept of Eudaimonia
About DOMAINS™
THE CHALLENGE OF MODERN LIFE
One of the defining challenges of modern life is the relentless competition for our attention. We are constantly navigating information, choices, responsibilities, and technological interruptions, and it is increasingly difficult to distinguish what deserves our attention from what simply demands it. This raises deeper questions: What matters? How do we organize what matters? And how do we follow through consistently on what matters?
Part of the difficulty is that we are not always good judges of what matters. Psychologists Daniel Gilbert (Harvard University) and Timothy Wilson (University of Virginia) have shown that people are surprisingly poor at “affective forecasting,” that is, predicting how future events and choices will make them feel. As a result, we often fall into what they call “miswanting”: pursuing things we believe will make us happy that ultimately do not.
To direct our attention deliberately, we need some understanding of what makes life worth living. Without a sense of meaning, it is hard to set a clear direction or to distinguish what is important from what is merely interesting, urgent, entertaining, or a way to avoid boredom or responsibility. Meaning helps us understand what we want our lives to stand for and where our limited time and energy should go.
Clarity alone is not enough, however. We also need a way to stay connected to what gives our lives value and to act on it. Without that, we remain vulnerable to everything vying for our attention, reacting to whatever is loudest rather than pursuing what matters most. Domains is designed to provide both.
HOW DOMAINS DOES THE HEAVY LIFTING
Experts across generations and academic disciplines have devoted their lives to understanding what makes a life good and meaningful. Domains distills their most relevant insights into a clear, practical framework built around six essential Domains. It addresses the questions above, along with others just as important: What information is worth our attention? How should we conduct ourselves? How can we simplify our thinking, our decisions, and the language we use to describe our lives?
From there, Domains goes beyond knowledge. It helps you deliberately engineer your thinking, systems, habits, and environment to support follow-through.
This is what makes Domains distinctive. Rather than adding more information to an already crowded world, it filters out what is irrelevant, simplifies what matters, and provides the structure needed to turn knowledge into action.
THE FOUNDATION: HUMAN FLOURISHING
At its foundation is the ancient Greek concept of eudaimonia: human flourishing, or the pursuit of a well-lived life. Domains connects Aristotle’s enduring philosophy with contemporary research on well-being and happiness, translating a timeless idea into a framework for navigating modern life.
The Science of Human Flourishing
Simplifying Thinking & Vocabulary
Organizing Life into Domains
Applying evidence-based insights to improve well-being and fulfillment.
Reducing complexity, distractions, and unnecessary decisions to focus on what really matters.
Defining the important areas of life so nothing essential is overlooked.
The Framework
Structure for organizing your thoughts, decisions and actions.
Follow-Through
Engineering a system that makes the right actions easier to execute.
About
Greg DeLaval
Greg DeLaval is an educator, coach, and leader with more than three decades of experience bringing out the best in people.
He spent 15 years as a university instructor and lecturer at St. Francis Xavier University, the University of Toronto, and the University of Calgary, teaching in the faculties of Kinesiology and Human Kinetics. His students included future teachers, coaches, doctors, nurses, athletic therapists, and strength and conditioning specialists. His teaching evaluations ranked among the highest at each university where he taught.
Greg's career has also been deeply rooted in high-performance environments. Over 19 years of university football coaching, he helped turn around four university programs, coordinated record-setting offenses, won numerous championships, and developed nationally award-winning athletes and professionals.
A national championship coach and respected figure in Canadian university football, Greg is perhaps best known for his tenure as Head Football Coach at the University of Toronto (U of T). Hired in 2008 to revitalize the struggling Varsity Blues program, he inherited a team that had endured 49 consecutive losses over six and a half years—the longest losing streak in Canadian university football history. In his first game as head coach, Greg led the Varsity Blues to victory, ending the streak. The emotional win generated two weeks of Canadian and U.S. media coverage, and Greg received multiple first-place votes from his peers in Coach of the Year balloting. The 2008 season was later chronicled in David Shibatani's book Turning the Corner.
Greg has also taught at the elementary and high school levels and served as a Director of Athletics for four years at a private school. Throughout his career, he has mentored and supported students, athletes, coaches, staff, and parents through challenges arising from academics, athletics, career uncertainty, finances, health, parenting, and relationships. In more complex situations, Greg served as a member of a support team assisting student-athletes through loss, legal issues, gang involvement, self-harm and suicide.
Alongside his professional accomplishments, Greg’s own life has been shaped by challenges, perseverance, and personal growth. Despite struggling academically and not being recruited to play university football, he went on to become a five-year starter at St. Francis Xavier University (StFX), compete in a National Championship, and serve as a three-time team captain.
In his senior year, Greg earned Academic All-Canadian recognition and a place on the Dean’s Honours List. He also received the Physical Education Fitness Award and the prestigious Marcel Lucier Award in recognition of his contributions to the university and community. After completing his Master’s degree in Administration, Leadership, and Policy, Greg ran three Ottawa Marathons before qualifying for and completing the Boston Marathon.
These experiences reinforced Greg’s belief that meaningful progress is possible with the right approach, regardless of where you begin. They continue to shape his practical, strategic, and compassionate approach to Domains and his commitment to helping people make meaningful progress across all the areas of life that matter.
Domains is also informed by the research and scholarship of Dr. Shawn Northfield, a former university professor and award-winning scholar whose publications explore leadership and trust.
The challenge is learning how to navigate the whole — not simply optimize one part of it
as I did for so many years.
— Greg DeLaval
