I was always relatively at ease with math even though throughout lower education it was mainly about memorizing rules or formulas. In college it became about proofs, which was a completely different ball game and not something I'd been prepared for from preschool.

To me the real important thing is the attitudes imparted by your parents and peers. As noted in the article, it's acceptable to fail at math. Parents who have their own history of math anxiety probably don't really push their kids to excel in that field. Just the notion that I was expected to "get it" and keep trying until I did (perhaps helped along by some natural stubbornness) may have made the difference in my case.