I think that he truly was afraid of being powerless. When he found out that his mother was a witch and yet she fell for someone completely and utterly powerless, it drove him mad with the fact that he was related to someone useless. He finds out about these extoadiny powers and suddenly he wants to become someone different. Someone that can actually do something without terrorizing people. But this was all before the horcruxes. He was so obsessed with power that he didn't want to die. By finding out that he didn't have to die, he would do anything to get that power.
I think that a way to prevent him from becoming Voldemort would be for someone that he trusted (Dumbledore perhaps?) to convince him that there are other ways besides ripping his soul out in seven different ways. I know that this isn't the greatest, but maybe this could have worked with a younger Tom. |