Tami, great post!
People become what they think about on a consistent basis. For whatever reason (as you say Manjari, childhood experiences or whatever) if people focus on fear and the possibility of failure, this is what they will bring into their lives.
Wayne Dyer has a new book, Change Your Thoughts, Change Your LIfe. It's based on the writings of the Tao and it's really powerful.
It is within each person's power to change their thoughts. That's one thing the Law of Attraction is all about. You can choose how you think. It takes lots of practice to weed out the negative, disempowering thoughts but it can be done.
Just ask youself when you think something "Is this helping me or hurting me?" Reach for a better thought and break the old patterns.