The Meaning of our Quest
We’re a small startup building a fitness app. In fact, we’re not even a startup. Handstand Quest has been for 3 years and still is a side project, a hobby, that I spend my free time on.
Thousands of hours spent, hundreds of setbacks and failures, and only 119 weekly active users since the app was launched late 2019.
So what keeps me going? Besides enjoying the work I am doing, I am on a mission; a quest!
In this post, I’ll tell you all about the meaning of my quest. Let’s start first with the definition of what a mission statement is.
What is a Mission Statement?
A mission statement represents the goals and values a company cares about. It centers around the number one thing teams want to achieve. It helps people clarify who they are to their customers and potential employees, as well as differentiate them from competitors.
Some example mission statements from companies we know:
Google: to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful.
Apple: to bring the best user experience to customers through innovative hardware, software, and services.
Microsoft: to empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more.
Intuit: to power prosperity around the world.
The Search For Meaning
In Man’s Search for Meaning, Viktor Frankl explains that a human’s deepest desire is to find meaning in life, and once they find that meaning, they can survive anything. While our destiny in life is affected by the circumstances in which we find ourselves, we are ultimately free to choose our own path. Frankl claims that one of the three ways of finding meaning in life is through work.
So how do I find that meaning working on Handstand Quest?
The Mission of Handstand Quest
On the surface, my mission is weird and not very relevant to a lot of people.
“I want as many people in the world to be able to do handstands.”
Why Prioritize Health and Fun?
We have become very busy, bombarded with information and things to do, and having anxieties that stem from a nagging sense that we might be wasting what little time we have. Missing out is basically guaranteed in life, the inevitable consequence of one path chosen over another (source: Four Thousand Weeks).
With everything else that is important to us in life, we should prioritize fun AND health.
I have a strong opinion on what path we should keep our eyes on. We have some crystal clear gaps in how we’re evolving, and most of us see it. Top two of those gaps are: fun and health.
I don’t think anyone disagrees that fitness (or movement) is very important. It has become a need to maintain mental and physical health. I also don’t think that anyone disagrees that fun (or playing) moments are one of the most memorable and meaningful moments one can have in life, especially with other people.
What bar do we hold for ourselves when it comes to fitness? Do we want it to be a lifestyle that we enjoy and makes our life meaningful and more fun, or just a necessity to stay healthy.
Why Handstands?
I chose my current quest to be about handstands. As we evolve as a species, with a balanced view of what’s important, imagine every single one of us trained in schools to do handstands by the age of 9, and using it as an ongoing method later in life to recalibrate and restore balance.
So many people around the world are pursuing handstands because they are hard, challenging and help them overcome gravity and the fear of falling. They require practicing consistently and deliberately, working patiently towards mastery of strength, flexibility, balance, and mental focus.
Handstands can be done and learned anywhere without needing any equipment. They might be the perfect recipe for you to make fitness and playing a lifestyle, and when movement becomes a lifestyle, you actually start to prioritize fun and health with everything else.
If you’re interested to learn more about “why handstands”, check out my other post around The Handstand Mindset.
What keeps me going?
Finally, although we can achieve handstands on our own, I think it’s a lot more meaningful and achievable when we do it with others. The mission of Handstand Quest is to:
“Connect people to challenge themselves to get better at handstands.”
This is the mission that keeps me going, regardless of failures and low financial ROI. After all, the journey always begins with a hero who hears a calling to a quest.
What’s a mission without impact?
How do I know that I’m actually making progress? Measurement is critical to see impact.
Since Handstand Quest launched late 2019, I have seen 163 users improve their handstands using the app. On average, they improved their handstands by 38 seconds, practiced actively for 22 days, and broke their best records about 9 times!
Every time I question my mission, I will come back and look at: How many people was Handstand Quest able to help get better?
And if you’re reading this article, I look forward to hearing from you that this mission of mine has made some difference in your handstand journey, because that will keep me going! Whatever mission you’re on, I hope this will inspire you too!