Just like many of you, at some point or the other I’m in various stages of pursuing my vision and goals in life, and because of that you can consistently find me doing 2 things: (1) journaling/writing {especially my ideas}; (2) learning/getting my knowledge up about the industries I want to make an impact in.

That journaling and learning usually ramps up by a notch or three in June especially because I like to use the month to plan the second half of my year. I’ve been making some tremendous strides with the writing part–you should see my 2 mini-notebooks and my iPhone notepad filled to the brim with ideas, plans, and musings–and on any given day you can find me posted up at one of my favorite local coffee haunts scribbling up a storm, sometimes muttering to “Belle,” my imaginary creative muse myself.

Let me take a sip of this latte before I break open this journal and start chatting with Belle.

While the writing was going full steam ahead, the learning part was admittedly lagging behind a bit more than I wanted–that is, until last Wednesday when I participated in an incredibly dynamic live webinar by Women CEO Project entitled “Create Your 2015 Business Strategy,” presented by CEO extraordinaire {and Women CEO Project Founder}, Kristi Jackson. Women CEO Project touts itself as “the ultimate think tank and virtual university for the ambitious, tech-savvy, no excuses, no matter what, female entrepreneur,” and the organization more than lives up to that {well-earned} reputation.

Business Strategy LiveStream was by far the best 1 1/2 hours I’ve spent in months, and it propelled my business strategy thinking forward by leaps and bounds. Leaps and bounds, I tell you! And living up to the Women CEO Project philosophy of “no excuses, no matter what” the overall theme of the call was this: if anything is going to successfully jump off in my business life, it’s up to me to make it happen–it’s my job to bring the vision to life, and no one else’s.

Did you like that little nugget of wisdom? Well here are some more–these are 3 of my top takeaways from the call:

Women CEO Project’s Create Your 2015 Business Strategy

(1) Is it REALLY worth your time: ask yourself what you want to make in the next 12 months. Now divide that number by 52 {weeks in a year}. Next divide that number by 5 {days in a week}. Whatever that daily amount of money comes out to be should be your day-to-day decision-making barometer. In other words, ask yourself if that project you’re considering; that meeting someone requested; or that phone you’re on is worth {or will earn you} your daily amount. No? Then it’s not worth your time!

(2) The way to reach your goal is to have a crazy level of specificity. If you haven’t targeted your top 3 people or organizations that you want to do business with, then you’re not on top of your strategy. Quantifying targets and goals will get you to success faster.

(3) Your presentation should always be evolving for the better. This evolution comes through constantly educating yourself, and creating the kind of presentation that matches the kind of clients you desire.

And that was just the tip of the iceberg. Kristi went on to discuss lost more like marketing dos and don’ts; products, products, and presentation; and lastly, the “aha” moment of the webinar, doing things in “tandem.” By now you’re probably wishing you were part of the call, right? Ah, you know I wouldn’t dangle a carrot in front of you unless you could get it, my dears! For your business edification pleasure, I’m giving you the link to the recorded call. So grab yourself a notepad; a pen; your beverage of choice; and listen to a replay of the live call by clicking here. Remember, it’s up to you {and me!} to create your success!