I recently spoke to a group of sales professionals at end of their training conference. The attendees had participated in many learning sessions over a two day period – most of which were product related. I was scheduled to speak after dinner and I was somewhat concerned how attentive they would be by this time.

Fortunately, in days preceding, company had structured entire program to create energy, excitement and to foster a sense of team enthusiasm. They had a theme and encouraged their vendors to incorporate theme into each of their individual presentations. They awarded prizes for team with most energy and highest level of participation, and by time dinner was served, group was pumped. They were excited. And they were highly motivated and charged up. When I left that evening, I knew that these individuals would bring a renewed energy and drive to their work place. I was also confident that company would see a definite increase in their sales in weeks to follow.

It reminded me how motivational a conference, training workshop or corporate gathering can be. It reinforced importance of participating in sessions like these on a regular basis, if for no other reason, but to ignite our own personal motivation.

Running a business is tiring, stressful and challenging. Small business owners are required to wear many hats, often at same time, while executives of large organizations often have more problems and politics to manage on a daily basis. It is not uncommon for business to drain our energy and motivation, regardless of how much we enjoy business. If you do not take time to recharge your batteries and refresh your perspective it is easy to find yourself frustrated with your business.

That is why it is imperative to have a personal motivation plan in place. This means taking advantage of opportunities that will help you maintain your motivation. Here are few suggestions to help get you started.

As business people we must deal with a great deal of paper and information from email and net every day. You need to know however, that according to "Pareto Time Management Rule," only 20% of all paper and information is important. That leaves 80% that is not important. It's just another decision to make as to whether this information makes your life better or not.

Does this shock you? It did me at first, but now I subscribe to this motto and let go of all paper and information that doesn't serve me. It's my new mantra. If information is important I make sure it gets filed--either in paper files or on my computer. More and more I don't use paper files and have learned how to make new folders of important people or specific information I need to keep track of.