I was hired by an attorney last month to provide an EXPERT report on internet marketing and SEO. I have to say I was flattered. It was my first experience with officially documenting my expertise (however much/little I have) in my field. I also must say I really enjoyed it. So much so in fact that I’ve decided to write another EXPERT review.
This time, however, I’m going to review a sports drink. I feel like 24+years of playing sports establishes me as somewhat of a knowledgeable figure on the subject. While I was working for Anasazi (a wilderness survival program for troubled youth) we had a saying that was used to the point of exhaustion. “Hydration is happiness!!” In writing though, I’m going to now change that to “Hydr8tion is happiness.”
It’s probably been around a long time but last night was the first time I had tried QT’s Hydr8. I was super skeptical because I’m always disappointed in new sports drinks. I always go in expecting it to taste like Gatorade or Powerade. When it doesn’t, I deem it as a “medicine” taste and usually end up not even drinking half of it.
To be fair, I approached this drink the same way. Consequently, I WAS disappointed at first sip. I did sort of like the taste after a few gulps though the first contact was too strong in my opinion. Again, because I was expecting Gatorade. Then my wife tried it and said, “it’s not bad. You just can’t think of it as a sports drink. Imagine you’re drinking juice. You have to go in with no expectations.”
When I did that, I’m not kidding there was a world of difference. I LOVED it!! I had the Mango flavor and it sort of tasted like Snapple’s Mango Madness.
Then I started thinking about what Kylie had said. I think we can apply her advice in many things in life, especially things we haven’t tried before. When you go to Thailand, you can’t expect it to be like America. You’ll be sadly disappointed and your trip will be a complete bust. I know missionaries from my church that have spent two years in Thailand (one of the most exotic and beautiful places on earth) but were miserable the whole time they were there JUST because they were expecting something different than what it was.
Cultures are different, people are different, sports drinks are different, schools are different, families and personalities are different. By approaching each one without expectations, we can usually find something about every one of them that is unique and likable.
How do YOU approach the unknown?