The Juice Test: Why Intention Matters

The breakfast rush hums around the restaurant—murmured conversations, the clang of cutlery, the low hiss of the espresso machine. A glass of orange juice arrives at the table, and for a moment, it feels like something more than just juice. Served in a tall, chilled glass with a fresh slice of orange on the rim and a paper straw, it carries the quiet suggestion of something carefully prepared. The experience elevates the ordinary, creating an unspoken understanding—this juice was freshly squeezed, sourced with care, made with intention.

Then, across the room, a staff member slips out the door and returns moments later with a carton from the corner store. Nothing has changed, and yet everything has. The juice in the glass is now the same juice sitting in a home refrigerator. The taste remains identical, but the feeling around it shifts. The magic wasn’t in the juice itself; it was in the context and intention attached to it.

This is true far beyond a glass of orange juice. As Simon Sinek famously said, “People don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it.” Many professionals receive the same education, gain access to the same tools, or operate within the same industries. But what happens next is where things begin to diverge. Some use what they’ve learned to build structured systems, others apply it in creative and adaptive ways, while some focus on deepening individual impact. The why behind the work shapes how it is positioned, how it is shared, and how it is experienced by others.

Without a strong why, even the most valuable work is just another glass of juice—technically the same, but lacking the intention that sets it apart. Meaning isn’t inherent; it’s created through purpose, clarity, and the way something is brought into the world.