Heres a little piece of philosophy that will probably make a lot of sense, especially if youre scientifically-minded. If you dont change a behavior, that behavior is going to continue bringing the same results. Its simple! Its true!

If you dont change anything, of course you can expect to get the same results! Thats a claim that can be supported by science.

We can learn a lot from a philosophy thats quite prevalent in personal development circles, called NLP, or neuro-linguistic programming. The idea is that we can change certain negative characteristics about ourselves and lead fuller lives. We can have more success by behaving as successful people do. Thats great news, because that means that by observing the lives and behaviors of successful people, we effectively give ourselves a blueprint to success.

How can you apply this to your own personal development? How about we think about it? Part of the theory of neuro- linguistic programming is based on the idea that certain extremely successful individuals, (particularly those involved in sales or communications) share a common set of attitudes, skills, and temperaments.

Problem-avoiding behavior is the opposite of problem-solving behavior. Look, problems are inevitable. You can either be person who tries to hide and eventually gets overwhelmed, or you can be the person who uses problems as a way to remind themselves that they are in charge of their own destiny. Which person do you think as more self confidence? Which one do you think as more success? Find me a truly successful person that ran away when things got tough. Success is all about overcoming! There is no success without resistance!

Do you have think of yourself in a negative way? Chances are, this negative energy that you are bringing into your life is doing nothing but attracting negative energy. You can call me crazy, but you have to wonder if successful people, before their success, could have possibly believed that their life, where they were and the direction they were heading in, was all just a big waste of time.

To help keep you motivated in this way, a good idea is to practice an attitude of gratitude. This means that you take time each day to be thankful for what you have. This allows you to believe that good things are in fact possible for you, and that with a little more effort, youll be able to achieve even more! Practicing an attitude of gratitude is very important for your own personal development, especially early on, when you may feel that you just havent been getting anything out of life.

One way to alter this negative view you may have of yourself and to further your personal development is to practice an attitude of gratitude. Practicing an attitude of gratitude means taking the time to be thankful for what you have. People who do this, even as the recession deepens and the economy gets worse, are going to look at themselves in a much more positive light, and as a result, they are going to attract even more good fortune. Think of all that you have. Your friends, your family, your talents, your interests.

Everything that has happened to you, from the good fortune to the bad fortune that you were able to learn from. (One big step in your personal development could also be not to look at any experience as completely negative.) What you have is a recipe for what makes you a unique individual, especially equipped to fulfill your own potential. Youre undoubtedly going to have a list that makes you happy, to realize that within you is the ability to take charge of your own personal development and move forward. Thats the first step in healthy personal development, the kind that creates success.