SM: What do you suggest women do to become fearless?
Huffington: One of the key messages of [On Becoming Fearless] is that fearlessness isn't the absence of fear—it's the mastery of fear. Being fearless means getting up one more time than you fall down. To live in fear is the worst insult to our true selves.

SM: In what areas do you continue to work on being fearless?
Huffington: You name it—I'm still working on it! It's definitely an ongoing process. Fearlessness is like a muscle, the more you use it, the stronger it becomes—and the easier it becomes to confront your fears and pursue your dreams.

And Arianna has flexed that muscle many times. After finishing her second book in her mid-twenties, Arianna faced rejection 36 times before getting published. She also had to face a public divorce after 10 years of marriage with politician Michael Huffington in 1997.