Is your business doomed to wallow in net loss hell for years to come? Have you given up on your business’ ability to deliver you any profits?

Fear not! You are in a slump and it is important to do what you can to get out of it.

In the final part of this series, I cover the business owner who has resigned them self to pessimism and negativity: the underachiever, or the below average aimer.

If you are aiming for below average goals or are an underachiever, your approach to success is most likely pessimistic and your are doubtful that your business will experience any true success. There is a chance you may even feel as if your business is destined to fail and that your negative outlook has sucked away your motivation.

The first and foremost thing you should do if you discover that you fall into this category is not to worry! I can’t think of one person who is immune to falling into a slump. We all lose confidence in something at one time or another and our motivation seeps away.

The trick is that you need to find an effective way back to optimism, remove the negativity from your life, and get motivated again.

Consider reading some inspirational books. These books are written to inspire you and motivate you. They often do a very good job at this as well. Pick up a best selling inspirational book from your local bookstore or library and try to get some of that optimism back.

You should also read up on the powers of optimism and the dangerous power of pessimism. Consider some different ways to combat doubt, and see if they can work for you. In this case, it might be a good idea to surround yourself with some positive people and avoid the negative thinking ones, at least until you are out of a slump. This may help you adapt a better outlook on your own abilities.

Finally, consider finding a mentor. Mentors would be great in helping you navigate through some of your day to day problems as well as some broader issues. This may, in turn, assist you in learning more effective ways to tackle obstacles and give you a better perspective on the problems your business faces. They may also be able to reassure you that a lot of the doubts and problems your business is having are common ones and may have some tips on how they combat their own doubts and avoid slumps.

Are you starting to feel resigned to the average success of your business? You need a confidence booster!

Your business may be profitable and you are making a somewhat predictable net profit every year, however you feel you deserve more. You feel that you should be sharing in the success of some of the more rapidly growing businesses.

In part three of this four part series, I cover someone who defines them self as the average achiever.

As an average achiever, you feel that you are no better than the next business owner, you aim for an average reaching goal, maybe a salary or to at least to attain profitability. You don’t believe you can achieve higher levels of success and are cynical in your ability to lead your business to the next level.

Many people feel this way, however setting this barrier for yourself does not help you attain any stellar results.

If you are happy and content with these results and enjoy the level of business you have, either for the simplicity it grants you, the enjoyment the size of your business gives you or the extra time you get to spend with your family, good for you, the above description probably doesn’t apply to you. By all means your first and foremost priority for yourself is YOUR happiness. If you don’t want any significant growth, than you should continue to aim for what makes you happy.

However, if you continually ask yourself “what if?”, if you wish you were making more money or that your business were more successful, it is important that you have confidence in your abilities to lead your business and to target higher than an average set of goals.

It is vital that you shake up your apathy or resigned contentment with the status quo and boost your outlook on what you believe you can accomplish.

Reading up on small business success stories may help boost your confidence, but what works for me is reading some best selling business books. Not only do I enjoy reading them but some do a very good job at coaching you and giving you ideas for running a more successful business.

I have already named a few: The 4-Hour Workweek, E-Myth Mastery and Ready Fire Aim. Dan Kennedy’s How to Make Millions with Your Ideas, while dated, is a great book for giving you marketing ideas.

Finally, you should ask yourself why you don’t think you deserve more, or why you don’t think you can accomplish more. I doubt you can come up with a good enough answer. If you are working hard for yourself, of course you deserve what you want and of course you can achieve it. It is only a matter of maintaining confidence and aiming higher.

Do you wish you could squeeze just a little more success out of your business? Maybe the objectives you are looking to accomplish can be slightly more ambitious.

In this four part series, I describe different ways you can define yourself that may affect the success of your business. I also explain ways you can teach yourself to stretch your goals even further so you can demand more progress out of your enterprise.

In part 2 of this series, I describe: the Above Average Achiever.

As an above average achiever, you set only mild stretch goals for yourself and may often doubt your ability to achieve them. You may not be confident enough to think you can accomplish something seemingly astronomical. You are probably ambitious and motivated, but the problem is that your motivations are being allocated to goals that don’t pull you far enough.

In order to move from being an above average achiever, or someone who sees themselves as moderately successful, to becoming a successful overachiever, you should first look at the successes you have met already, as well as the goals you are aiming for presently. You should then ask yourself what is needed to take these objectives one step further. Knowing what you have attained already will give you a better idea as to what is needed additionally to accomplish something one step more ambitious.

You don’t need to jump from being moderately ambitious to aiming to be the next billionaire all in one step. You may find it easier and less of a shock if you use the small wins technique towards being incrementally more high-achieveing.

Asking yourself why you aren’t aiming higher may also shed some light on what doubts you have in you or your business. You may also discover some present difficulties that your business is encountering. Consciously recognizing this can help you look to fix this right away.

Sometimes what may help is simply reading other’s success stories. It may inspire you knowing that others have been through similar difficulties or trouble spots, yet were still able to plow through.

If you have any other sources of inspiration, by all means, try this as well. The important thing is not how you do it, but the fact that you are aiming more ambitiously so your business can achieve even more.

Stay tuned for the next posting on the average aimer, and what they can do to target more ambitiously.

Do you consider yourself successful? As a business owner, or even as the primary beneficiary of your own success, it is extremely important to define yourself as optimistically as possible.

Unfortunately, many don’t see themselves in a positive light. Therefore, in this four part series, I will describe the different ways one can define themselves and how they can improve their self concept of their business aptitude and success.

The first self definition I will be covering is: the successful overachiever.

Defining yourself as successful requires confidence and optimism. It also requires utilizing stretch goals and aiming high, but most importantly, it is believing that you can actually meet these ambitious goals that you aim for.

Considering yourself successful is the ideal self definition for an entrepreneur. After all, you are going into business for yourself to succeed on your own merits, while realizing all of the value and profits you generate for yourself. What better way to approach this than to be positive and believing that you are a success?

Why is considering yourself a success, or at least success-bound so important? It is important for self-confidence, however it is also important for the success of your business. If you are looking for a promotion, running for public office, or even entering into an audition for a movie, you must act the part. Handling your business is no different. If you want your business to succeed, you need to play the part of success and treat your business as if it were success-bound.

If you are having trouble viewing yourself as a success, consider ridding yourself of any doubts you may have, consider ways to measure success before profitability, and remember how important optimism is.

Ultimately, in order to label yourself successful, you need to always challenge the status quo and be committed to constant self improvement. You need to be positive and confident. For whatever reason you have decided to start your own business, you must believe you are qualified enough to run a business or at least learn from it. You are already demonstrating the confidence you need and you are already acting the part. Just make sure to keep at it and stay invested in your success.

This is part one of a four part series. The next self definition I will be covering is considering yourself to be above average in success.