You’re probably wondering what chocolate has to do with a past life fear of failure.

Well, Hershey’s and Mars are two of the most famous names associated with chocolate, and I expect at some point in your life, you’ve probably had one of their chocolate bars.

But, did you know that the eponymous founders of those two businesses were united by something other than chocolate?

After four years of apprenticeship to a candy maker, Milton Hershey began his own company outside of Philadelphia in the late 1800s. Franklin Mars learned to make candy from his mother, before he and his wife opened Mars Inc. in Washington state in 1911. Both businesses went under, and failure was the spiritual lesson shared by both men.

After years of hard work, each of them suffered the crushing disappointment of having their business fold. Yet, they both went on to later build billion dollar companies that have lasted over a century.

I’m sure you’re familiar with the statistic that 80% of new businesses fail. Since actually succeeding the first time around is not that common, it’s amazing how anyone bothers trying at all. Yet we do.

The human soul is impelled from within to keep going.

Franklin Mars started several other companies that didn’t succeed. In fact, both men failed several times before finally making it. And strangely enough, the statistics were on their side.

Although the failure rate for first time entrepreneurs is high, a study in Texas showed that second businesses do much better. And the more a person fails, the more likely they are to succeed the next time.

A past life fear of failure is one of the ten fears that shows up all the time. It might even be the most common one.

The fear stems from a past life of severe disappointment, and shows up in this lifetime as procrastination, a reluctance to try things that might not work out, and a lack of belief in your ability to be successful. Sound familiar?

It has to be. With countless lifetimes of disappointment behind it, the need for some degree of amnesia is considerable. But your soul gets discouraged easily. The triggers that remind it of failure are many, and act to rob you of your natural buoyancy.

Have you ever seen a child get frustrated within minutes of trying something new?

Instead of persevering they throw a tantrum with a yell of, “I can’t do it!” Their frustration is an expression of their past life fear of failure. They might give up piano after one lesson, or fail to turn in an exam paper they have little confidence in.

For many adults, the fear is revealed in their reluctance to try anything at which they might fail. (If you don’t try, you can’t fail.)

Of course, if you don’t try, you’ve already failed. Instead of applying for a better job they might not get, they stick with the devil they know.

If you recognize a past life fear of failure in yourself, it’s important to understand this from a big picture perspective.

Don’t allow yourself to become easily discouraged, and quit. Remember Milton Hershey and Franklin Mars, and how they stuck to their dreams despite huge disappointments, until they finally achieved great success. And remember, too, that there have been times when you’ve also had severe knocks, but you managed to keep going until you met your goal.

By following your dreams, and really going for it, you may or may not be successful the first time around. But if you never try, then failure is guaranteed.

And, as the Spirit Guides would say, you don’t want to be 100-years old, wondering how different your life might have been had you kept trying.