Goal setters in the north offer tips on how to keep New Year's resolutions

One northern Ontario business owner, Sylvie Lamothe is on what she calls a 'worcation' in Sayulita, Mexico. It was a goal she set a year ago.

"And when September hit and I was looking at December I was just like there’s a three week break where all the work I’m doing is on my computer so I could do it from anywhere," said Lamothe, who is the owner of Rebel Soul in Timmins.

Lamothe told CTV News she is a big believer in writing down what she wants to achieve, like working outside of Canada if she so desires and bringing people together to practice yoga.

“I did my yoga teacher training five years ago,” she said.

“Ever since then I’ve been writing ‘yoga retreat’ in my journal, not knowing when it would happen; how it would happen, and now May 2023, I’m now hosting that yoga retreat."

Jeff Baldock, a psychotherapist in northern Ontario, said something happens to our brains when we write down what we resolve to do.

“It raises dopamine and serotonin levels by simply saying this is the target that we’re going for; it’s also very helpful by the way, to take some time to visualize that,” said Baldock, who is the owner of Framework Counselling Services in Timmins.

According to Time2Play, an online gambling website that conducted a survey of 1,000 Canadians, found that 62% of the respondents felt it was beneficial to make a New Year's resolution, but most of them lost motivation to follow it.

Baldock told CTV News one easier way to honour a resolution is to outline a break down for yourself of how you want to go about achieving it.

“We can set a big long goal for ourselves and taking each step in such a way that it’s reasonable, it’s realistic," he said.

Baldock added you'll be able to enjoy life much more this way and others will notice that too.

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Additionally, Lamothe said, if you get off track, try not to get disappointed.

“Look at all the days I did do it, today’s ok to take a day off,” he said. “You know give yourself that grace to show up as a human, you are a human being, you will have bad days.”

Baldock says a friend of his, who was an athlete and an excellent business woman, had said one time; “Give ourselves twenty-four hours to bleed.”

The survey by Time2Play, also revealed that people in Newfoundland and Labrador are the most committed at keeping their New Year's resolutions and claimed to do so for six months.