To go three steps forward, go three steps deep.

September 29, 2025

I’ve been thinking about something lately.

I love my work so much that I rarely stop thinking about it. 

Coaching, writing, creating. It doesn’t feel like work, it feels like life itself. 

Yet, there’s a struggle that follows me everywhere: I find it hard to pause.

The truth is, purpose is intoxicating. Once you taste it, it can become all-consuming.

You want to keep building, keep serving, keep creating impact. But the paradox is this: without stepping back, I risk losing the very perspective that makes the work meaningful.

And then while I was on the treadmill this morning, listening to Jay Shetty and Emma Watson in conversation on the On Purpose podcast, Jay said that his spiritual guru once told him, “To go three steps forward, you need to go three steps deep.”

Damn. Mic drop.

We live in a world obsessed with moving forward. Goals. Progress. Speed. Growth.

But the real work, the work that sustains us, often comes when we pause, zoom out, and go deep. 

Deep into reflection. Deep into values. Deep into the inner rivers that quietly shape the choices we make on the surface.

Because only when we go deep can our forward steps carry clarity and meaning.

Without depth, we’re just moving faster without knowing where.

Maybe you feel this too: the constant pull between doing more and being more.

Between the thrill of progress and the grounding of purpose.

The poet Rumi once wrote: “When you do things from your soul, you feel a river moving in you, a joy.” 

That river has been my reality for years. But even rivers need banks to guide their flow. Pausing, even briefly, gives me those banks. Those banks are boundaries that hold the purpose without letting it drown me.

So here’s my challenge for you (and for me):

Where in your life do you need to pause, step back, and go deep so that the steps you take forward are truly yours?

Until next week, Utkarsh

👉 If this resonated, hit reply. I’d love to hear your reflections. And if you, your team or organization could use more space to zoom out and reconnect with purpose, let’s talk.