Why putting our our mental health first is the best New Year's resolution

The pandemic robbed her of the chance to sit A levels. But she ended up with three As and is now studying journalism at the University of Brighton (Eastbourne campus).

Here is her latest contribution.

"2021. Are we sure that 2020 actually just happened or was it just a glitch that we can all forget about now? Apparently not.

"It seems that we had all ignored the fact that coronavirus cares not for years and timing and has managed to sneak its way into 2021 as well. With my county now being placed in Tier 4 (not to any of our surprise) it is beginning to reach the point where the end no longer seems to be in sight - thank goodness we didn’t know this back in March. I remember writing a column in early summer exclaiming how glad I was that everything was now going back to normal and that by September it would all be over…how embarrassing.

"Yet despite this, the new year always brings a certain type of buzz, whether we are mid pandemic or not.

"There is something about the 1st of January that has a kind of atmosphere of expectation, as if the simple change from one day to the next carries a huge emotional or transforming weight. In reality, the same tubs of chocolate still wait on the countertop and my tendency to procrastinate hasn’t decreased in the slightest, but we promise ourselves that this is it, this will be ‘our year’ where we will lose weight and gain knowledge and do something else with all the bits in between. I remember at school having to write out our new years’ resolutions at the age of seven, as if we were prepared to take huge steps in improving ourselves in between making mud pies and attending birthday parties.

"The truth is, twelve years later I still feel just as unqualified to commit myself to better my lifestyle on that first day of the year. Every attempt that I have made to stop eating chocolate has just led to me feeling miserable and certainly not healthier in mind, and each time I have endeavoured to work out every day I remember instantly why I chose never to do it in the first place.

"I do not claim to be original in this statement as it appears that more and more people are taking a similar stance, but this year in particular I will not put myself under any pressure to conform to the typical resolutions.

"I am certainly not suggesting that I have no flaws to correct, in fact the case is quite the opposite. I could diet, exercise and budget as much as I could but there are much larger issues in the world going on around me that are difficult to ignore in any area of my life. We are already all suffering the effects of a global pandemic, and I think to promise ourselves that we will put our mental health first and foremost is the most vital resolution that we can make as we enter 2021."