Peaceful Peak Performance with Nikhil Rughani | Ep. 30
Nikhil Rughani who is an incredible man who I have gotten to know quite well over the last few months. Nikhil has a beautiful blend of neuroscience, business strategy, practicality and spirituality which he weaves into the work he does with his clients. Our conversation flows through so many different topics and we definitely could have spoken for another 10 hours! His answer to my usual last question is incredible and you will not want to miss it.
Bio:
Nikhil Rughani is an Australian high-performance coach, mindset expert, and founder of Steel Lotus, a pioneering business dedicated to helping leaders and entrepreneurs achieve “Peaceful Peak Performance™” by uniting science, sales, and spirituality. Nikhil draws on more than 20 years of experience in copywriting, marketing, and coaching to guide ambitious leaders into sustainable flow states so they can scale without burnout. His grounded approach blends neuroscience, NLP, and practical business strategy, translating complex ideas into simple, actionable tools.
Previously a senior copywriter, tech industry veteran, and marketing agency founder, Nikhil has led award-winning teams and crafted multimillion-dollar campaigns for CEOs, government leaders, and high performing business owners in Australia and abroad. As the architect of Steel Lotus, he has created proprietary coaching frameworks that combine cutting edge brain science with Eastern wisdom traditions.
Nikhil teaches Masters-level students in advertising, marketing, and branding at the University of New South Wales and is completing postgraduate studies in neuroscience and business at the University of New England. Beyond one-to-one-work, he designs certification programs for the next generation of peak-performance practitioners and regularly leads workshops on flow, mindset reprogramming, and conscious business.
A dedicated martial artist and taekwondo instructor, Nikhil embodies discipline, presence, and resilience in everything he teaches. His calm, non-hype style and clear, heartfelt communication invite audiences to redefine success on their own terms. achieving exceptional results without sacrificing wellbeing, authenticity, or inner peace.
Social Media:
Website: https://steellotus.com.au/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nrughani
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nikhilrughani/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nikhilrughani/
Transcript:
Nikhil draws on more than 20 years of experience in copywriting, marketing, and coaching to guide ambitious leaders into sustainable flow states so they can scale without burnout. His grounded approach blends neuroscience, NLP (neuro-linguistic programming), and practical business strategies, translating complex ideas into simple, actionable tools.
Previously a senior copywriter, tech industry veteran, and marketing agency founder, Nikhil has led award-winning teams and crafted multi-million dollar campaigns for CEOs, government leaders, and high-performing business owners in Australia and abroad.
As the architect of Steel Lotus, he has created proprietary coaching frameworks that combine cutting-edge brain science with Eastern wisdom traditions. Nikhil teaches master’s level students in advertising, marketing, and branding at the University of New South Wales here in Sydney, Australia, and is completing his own postgraduate studies in neuroscience and business.
Beyond one-to-one work, he has designed certification programs for the next generation of peak performance practitioners and regularly leads workshops on flow, mindset reprogramming, and conscious business.
A dedicated martial artist and taekwondo instructor, Nikhil embodies discipline, presence, and resilience in everything he teaches. His calm, non-hype style and clear, heartfelt communication invite audiences to redefine success on their own terms, achieving exceptional results without sacrificing wellbeing, authenticity, or inner peace.
Welcome to the show, Nikhil. I’m so excited that we’re having this conversation today.
Nikhil Nughani (02:31)
Yeah, thanks for having me, Megan. I’m pretty excited myself. Yeah.
Megan North (02:34)
How does it feel when I read out that incredible bio of yours?
Nikhil Nughani (02:40)
Um, it feels like something quite surreal, to be honest. It’s like, wow. Just listening to it, I was like, that feels like I’ve done a lot. I’ve done so much. I’m like, wow.
And you know, the funny thing is, I look at it and I’m like, yeah, that’s just normally me. I tend to do lots of different things. But on reflection, it’s quite humbling.
To be given the opportunity to be able to do so much, and to be able to go across so many different fields and then bring them together, that’s really what I think I’ve been doing the last 15 to 20 years.
Megan North (03:23)
Yeah, yeah. And I often ask my guests how they feel, because we can write our own bio and we can read it, but hearing someone else read it out is always quite interesting. You get a different perspective and you think, my gosh, are you actually talking about me, or someone else?
Nikhil Nughani (03:41)
Yeah. There’s that crossover between being proud and being humble at the same time. It’s like, wow, I’m proud I did all that. And then, well, I’m so humbled I’ve had the opportunity to do it. I feel honoured. I’m very honoured that I’ve had this opportunity.
Megan North (03:59)
Beautiful way to wrap that up. That’s really nice, actually.
So, talking about your career journey, it’s been wide and varied over the years. What was the defining moment that led you to pursue your true passion and purpose? What was happening for you at that time?
Nikhil Nughani (04:03)
Thank you.
I always had an interest, I guess, in deeper truths. From a very, very young age, I’ve always been looking for why, and what, and what’s the way to get clearer answers. I think I frustrated my parents to no end because they couldn’t answer them.
Community leaders, religious leaders, all these people, when I asked questions that were too deep, they would laugh and kind of make a joke of it. But there was a genuine curiosity around that.
As I went through my schooling, one thing became very, very clear. I had a deep passion for wanting to connect and help people to be the best versions of themselves.
To that end, I did so many different things. I worked in politics. I’ve worked in recruitment. I’ve worked in… gosh… I’ve been a clairvoyant, a professional psychic. There are so many different things that I’ve done.
But ultimately, what I really figured out was that I wanted to help people become the best versions of who they are.
I think part of that came from idealism. I was a very idealistic youth. I believed in world peace. I believed that people can be better. I believed that, at the end of the day, it sounds a bit hippie, but we can come together as a single race of humanity.
A lot of that really came from the fact that, as a child, I’d experienced a lot of racial attacks in my home country of the UK, where I was born. That wasn’t right for me. That wasn’t correct.
In reflection, I look at that and I think that’s maybe where the starting point really was for who I was as a person and what I stood for.
So it was my life path defining moment more than anything. When I realised, this is not right. This is not the way it should be. And so it became: can I help people? How can I help people become really epic and really awesome? The best version of who they are, not some insecure version, not someone else trying to fit into somebody’s shoes. Not that. Who you really are.
Megan North (06:28)
Is that something that’s been true through your career and opportunities? Are you the type of person where someone turns up and gives you an idea or an opportunity, and you think, yep, I’m going to try it because it feels right? Is that how things flow for you?
Nikhil Nughani (06:44)
That’s such a good question, Megan. Yeah, I wish it was like that. It’s not always been like that.
What it’s really been is quite interesting. I just get this feeling. A calling. A gut feeling. Intuition. Call it what you will. That this might be a better idea, a better way to do it.
And it tends to come to me, as opposed to me going out and seeking it, which has been really interesting.
People may call that intuition, instinct, gut feeling, whatever. The fact is, it comes up. It bubbles up through the surface of my mind. I feel it in my body. I’m like, yeah, that feels right. Let me do that. Let me give it a go.
And sometimes it’s the most counterlogical thing. It doesn’t make sense to anyone else. It doesn’t even make sense to me most of the time.
