March is Women’s History Month! 

It’s a great time to honor and celebrate the women in our lives who have worked hard to make our world a better place. Whether you’re thinking about the incredible female leaders who are advocating for improved rights for all, the athletes and entertainers who bring us joy, or the family members who have been there for us through thick and thin, all the strong and powerful women we celebrate all have one thing in common: resilience. No matter what they went through or who told them they wouldn’t make it, they rose to the top. Resilience is the key to overcoming challenges, and we have some tools to help you build up yours.

Put simply, resilience is the ability to adapt to difficult situations. It helps protect us from anxiety and depression, and allows us to keep functioning both mentally and physically in the face of stress, physical pain, trauma, grief, and despair. Unfortunately, all of us will have to experience some of these throughout our lifetimes, but building resilience now, before you need it, can help you cope when you’re faced with the unexpected and painful. 

Here are some ways to build resilience:

Take good care of you

You know how airlines tell you to put your air mask on first, and then help the people around you? That’s a good metaphor for life. You can’t fill from an empty cup, so make sure you are taking care of yourself first. Eating healthy foods, getting a full night’s sleep, drinking water, exercising, and practicing stress management techniques like yoga, meditation, or stretching will all help you have a great, resilient foundation for the times that life gets tough. Read more about self-care tips here. 

Find your people

Good friends are there through the good and the bad. Work on building connections and strengthening relationships with the family and friends that make you feel seen, appreciated, and valued. Work on ways to build community, like volunteering for a cause you care about, or joining a club or spiritual community.

Don’t procrastinate

When we are facing a problem or stressful situation, it can be tempting to ignore it and hope it miraculously fixes itself. However, this rarely happens, and often just makes the situation worse. Instead of waiting to confront an issue, face it head on! Figure out what needs done, create an action plan, get help from your support system, and work on it step by step until you can find your way on the other side.

Learn from the past

We can all do hard things, and you’ve made it through difficult situations in the past. Remember the skills, strategies, and coping mechanisms you used to get through previous situations, and lean into those again. Talk to a trusted friend, family member, counselor, or other support system to see what has worked to help them get through tough times, and find what works best for you.

Resilience is a practiced skill, and it takes time to develop. You can find more tips for building resilience from the Mayo Clinic and the National Institutes of Health. And if you’d like to honor Women’s History Month by learning more about incredible, resilient women, check out the National Women’s History Alliance.