Hi, dear reader,

If you're here, I'm going to go ahead and guess you're interested in attending the HB90 Course by Sarra Cannon, who runs the awesome Heartbreathings blog and YouTube channel, and you want to learn more before committing to it. 

I've been an alumna of the course since the last quarter of 2018, and following the course has streamlined my working and publishing process so much, I wanted to write a full review to help you understand whether this course is right for you. I love it so much, in fact, that I'm an affiliate for the course - this means I get a commission if you sign up using the links in this post, with no extra cost to you. I believe in the course that much. 

So, first of all: what's this course all about?

H90 is a course that explains Sarra's 90-day (or quarterly) planning system. It digs into mindwork as well as planning, which is invaluable. It has recently been renewed from a 3-day to a 7-day course because Sarra made it even more in-depth and functional. 

The course opens in the month before a new quarter starts - that means that signups are open in the beginning of December, March, June, and September. 

It's primarily geared at writers, and indie writers at that (those who self-publish), but it can be - and is - used by various other creatives as well. It works both if you're a full-time author/freelancer or if you have a full-time job, a family, or whatever, and you're trying to squeeze in your creative goals around that. In fact, I'd say it's especially good if you identify with that last option!

The course teaches you to prioritize your future pursuits and allows you to organize your life one quarter at a time. This was new to me - I'd always made yearly plans, only to get completely derailed by February, by which time I flailed around and didn't really follow any sort of plan for the rest of the year. Quarterly planning (Sarra opens up her course in late December, March, June, and September, so I follow along with the videos, usually) allows you to start fresh and check in with your priorities every three months, so you never veer too far off your path.

As Sarra herself says:

"There are so many ways we all feel out of control right now, and if the HB90 Method can help even a handful of people to focus and get to work in ways that will make a difference for themselves, their families, and their communities, then I want to offer that."

What I loved about the course:

• The initial "Picture Your Ideal Life" exercises - this is where you create the perfect vision of the life you want to achieve, the life you want to work towards. This is what keeps me going, and I return to the exercise whenever things get tough (which they do, inevitably). 
• The goal-project-task breakdown. The course leads you to create three separate goals that you're working towards each quarter, then you break those down into projects, then tasks. I didn't understand this at all before taking the course, so I didn't have a good strategy in place. This alone is worth so much!
• Sarra. Lol, this sounds so strange, but if you've been watching her YouTube channel, you know she has an incredible sort of energy. She makes me want to be more productive and stick to my goals! :)
• The kanban board system. I didn't set one up for this past quarter because we moved and I didn't have the time/space to do it, but I miss it so much! I'm definitely putting one up for the next quarter. 
• The prioritization process. It hurts. Oh, it hurts so much to realize that you can't do it all, all at once. But once you prune your priorities down to the basics, it's beautiful. No more worrying about 102848 things at once. It's so freeing. 
• The alumni-only FB group. I'm not a huge FB fan but this group is great. Apart from the weekly accountability posts, it has a ton of info and a great community.

Okay, so I'm a fan! But surely it's not all sunshine and rainbows? 

Where you could go wrong if you buy this course:

• You think it will do the work for you. Sorry to disappoint, there's no such thing as a magic course out there. You'll have to do the work, both during the course and over the course of the quarter. But you'll know you're working towards your true ideals, so it's all worth it!
• You hate planning and thinking about you future makes you cringe. Um, then maybe you're not in the right spot. But if this is you, and you want to change your wicked ways (lol), then this course will help because it gives you the entire process, as well as a planner to use. 

One thing to add: I don't actually use the HB90 planner that comes with the course. I don't like printing out my own pages, so I do the vision work, the prioritizing, and the planning, then stick to my lovely pink yearly planner. It's a tool you can use if you're into ring binders and stuff, but I prefer a more compact yearly planner. That said, Sarra puts a new quarterly planner into her Etsy shop every quarter (and also has an undated option), so if you are a fan of printing your own stuff, this will definitely make you happy!

I hope you got some good info on the course in this review. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to pop them in the comments or email me (at zoeashwoodwrites@gmail.com). I'm happy to help!

If you're in, sign up here, and I'll see you in the alumni group! ;)

Zoe