Do you know the 3-Letter Formula for Personal Development Success?

If you can say your ABC (skip the rest of the alphabet), you can consciously and successfully create the life of your dreams.

Back in my network marketing days, I was taught a very useful acronym for success called A.B.C. - Always Be Closing. In a nutshell, it meant that everywhere you went and in everything that you did, you always acted as if you were "closing" the sale.

Everything was done with confidence, poise, and surety of purpose. It was (and still is) GREAT advice. However, I have come up with a modified version of that acronym, which I think is even more powerful - regardless of your career field or what your individual goals are:

It seems overly simplistic to say what I am about to say, but it certainly must not be as simple as it sounds, because most people - even the supposedly "enlightened" people - still have trouble grasping this on a day to day basis:

You always have a choice about how you react to life.

Sure, everyone claims that they know and understand this concept, yet they still don't practice it.

Whenever a job interview doesn't go their way, they CHOOSE to get upset and to start having fears about their career status.

When someone's spouse or significant other is acting in a negative way, they CHOOSE to have a negative reaction to that, which invariably leads to plenty of continued negativity.

When a scheduling issue causes chaos in someone's daily activity, they CHOOSE to throw up their hands in despair and just give up, cursing their bad luck. Then they resolve to allow that scheduling problem to change the entire course of their day.

In each of those examples, there is no doubt that each of those situations did not go the way that the individual would have preferred. However, it was not the circumstances themselves that caused problems, but rather that person's reaction to those circumstances.

If a job interview does not go your way, you can choose to either get upset and let fear and doubt begin to cloud your future judgment and actions, or you can choose to see it as a positive thing.

For all you know, there is a very good reason why you didn't get that job, and a better or more appropriate opportunity may be right around the corner. You will not see that next opportunity if you are busy wallowing in self-pity, however.

If your spouse or your boyfriend/girlfriend is being argumentative or causing negativity in your environment, how do you know that an opportunity isn't being presented to you?

Fate/God/The Universe or whoever might be tapping you on the shoulder to get your attention. Maybe you need to open up communication lines with your mate and frequent arguments are a telltale sign of that. Maybe that person really isn't for you and you are being guided to make that realization.

However, if you just get angry and start shouting back, what is going to be accomplished? Nothing positive, that's a safe bet.

What about when a scheduling issue causes chaos for you? How do you know that by getting caught by a slow train that you didn't just miss a drastic 10-car pile up that would have happened if you had made it to the other side of the tracks?

How do you know that what you perceive to be a day that has been ruined because of a blown schedule is not a great opportunity for you? Maybe you need to reevaluate your scheduling practices, reassess your daily task list, or maybe you are just getting a big wallop to your ego telling you that you need to slow down and stop trying to get so much done every single day.

Do you know that Americans work longer hours yet have less life-happiness and contentment than any other country in the world?

All of the examples that I just gave are merely random circumstances that I came up with while I was writing this post, and there are millions of other situations that could apply specifically to you. However, in each case, the lesson is still the same.

No matter how many curve balls that life chooses to throw at you, no matter how much negativity you are exposed to, and no matter how much your "mettle" is tested, there is always one - and only one - way to deal with it:

The way you CHOOSE to deal with it.

By choosing negative reactions, you will ensure continued negativity in the future. By choosing positive reactions, you will always give yourself a fresh start, a fresh perspective, and in some cases, a completely fresh slate from which to start all over again.

So, are you going to be a victim in life, or you are you going to choose to be in control?

The, uh, choice - is yours.