Episode 331: Business Growth Starts With Inner Growth feat. Rudi Riekstins
More revenue does not automatically mean more fulfillment, and your mindset can cap both. In this Beyond 7 Figures episode, I sit down with business coach Rudi Riekstins to talk about how fear and scarcity shape decisions, culture, and growth. If the company still runs through you, start with how to leave the Founder’s Trap.
Rudi told his own story first. He made his first million at 25 and still felt insecure, unworthy, and unfulfilled. He believed a result would finally prove he was enough. He said he even bought a $30,000 watch around that time, nearly 30 years ago, thinking it would buy respect. It didn’t. I recognized the gap. In my early 20s I had made more money than I ever had, and I was at the lowest point of my life.
That is the inner part of the Founder’s Trap. The business can grow and still leave you the bottleneck, because the decisions are being made from fear or from a need to prove something.
Rudi’s most useful business example was about energy in a company, not slogans. He walked into a firm with more than 30,000 employees. After a short conversation in the lobby, before a training with the executive team, he told the CEO the feeling in the building was fear. She asked how he knew. She then told him they had just come off record revenue, after five years of growth, and the team had flipped from celebrating to “how do we ever beat this.” People were burned out. The overriding feeling, when they asked the team, was fear. Rudi’s point was practical: if you can feel it, customers and employees can feel it, and it shows up in buying decisions and in how people respond at work.
He argues that a leader’s job is to build a culture of safety. Safe to fail, safe to speak up, safe to not know the answer. He described a better meeting as the one where the leader admits they don’t have the fix yet and asks the room to help find it, instead of forcing a mediocre idea because they are the boss. I told a related story about a restaurant CEO whose number one growth constraint was turnover. The question that changed the conversation was, what would make work the best part of their day? He said that once people felt valued, the turnover eased, the guest experience improved, and more diners came back.
If you want something you can do tomorrow, use the tool Rudi named. He calls it the still point. Breathe in and out until you are actually calm. Set the outside noise down, including the bank account, the team’s mood, and the day’s pressure. Then decide how you want to show up and how you want the business to look, instead of reacting your way through the day. He walks it as a morning practice: breathe, get neutral, then choose the state you want to lead from.
This is a different conversation from our earlier episode, Business Growth Starts With Inner Growth feat. Mike Brcic. Same theme in the title, different guest, different talk.
Rudi Riekstins is a business coach. Learn more at Rudi Riekstins. If you want to be around other founders who are trying to get out of the Founder’s Trap, that is what our community is for.
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
- Success does not guarantee fulfillment: Money and status cannot replace a sense of self-worth. Rudi’s first-million story is the proof he offered.
- Your mindset shapes your results: Fear and scarcity influence the decisions you make.
- Create a culture of safety: Give people room to speak up, make mistakes, and contribute.
- Lead with contribution: Help people succeed, and they are more likely to support the company’s success.
- Break reactive patterns: Step back, find calm, and approach the problem with a clearer head.
- Make people feel valued: A team that feels valued can improve retention, the customer experience, and growth.
- Shift from fear to abundance: Focus on what you want to create, not only on what you are afraid to lose.
- Lead yourself first: Your state and behavior influence the people around you.
- Connect the business with purpose: Focus on the impact you make, not only the money you earn.
- Reframe setbacks: Treat them as a chance to learn, improve, and serve better.
Resources mentioned:
- Rudi Riekstins: Rudi Riekstins
- Predictable Profits
- Predictable Profits Founder Community
Growing a business is hard, but it doesn’t have to be. In this podcast, we discuss strategies for growing and expanding a business beyond seven figures.
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FAQ
Why does business growth start with inner growth in this episode?
Because, in this conversation, how a founder thinks, feels, and shows up drives decisions and culture, and money alone does not create fulfillment. Rudi Riekstins said that even after he made his first million at 25, he still felt insecure, unworthy, and unfulfilled. Charles describes a similar gap in his early 20s.
How do fear and scarcity affect a business?
Rudi argues that fear and scarcity shape decisions and keep people in stressful, inconsistent cycles. He told a story of a large company that had record revenue after five years of growth, then watched the team flip from celebration to ‘how do we beat this,’ with fear as the overriding feeling. He said customers and employees can feel that, and it shows up in buying and people decisions.
What can a leader do, practically, from this episode?
Lead yourself first. Rudi describes a ‘still point’ practice: breathe in and out until you are calm, set aside the outside noise, then decide how you want to show up and how you want the business to look. On the culture side, he says a leader’s job is to make it safe to fail, speak up, and not know the answer.
Did you catch our last episode?
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