Draw your circuit and indicate an (arbitrary) direction, in which you want to count the current positive. Then use the right-hand rule to attach the surface-normal vector oriented positive relative to that direction of the current. Finally use Faraday's Law,
[tex]\partial_t \vec{B}=-\vec{\nabla} \times \vec{E},[/tex]
and integrate (line integral) along the circuit in direction of the positve current. Then the left-hand side translates into [itex]L \frac{\mathrm{d} i}{\mathrm{d}t}[/itex] for compact circuits, and the right-hand side you can transform into an integral along the surface, translating into [itex]-R i[/itex], where we have made use of Ohm's Law, [itex]\vec{E}=\vec{j}/\sigma[/itex]. From this you get the desired equation,
[tex]L \frac{\mathrm{d} i}{\mathrm{d} t}=-R i.[/tex]