Debt doesn’t cause anxiety.
The fear of not being able to repay it does.

In this episode, Dr. Vicki Rackner unpacks the real reason debt triggers so much stress for physicians — and why unmanaged debt anxiety can quietly sabotage your wealth-building.

Medical school loans. Practice buy-ins. Mortgages. Investment leverage.

These aren’t character flaws. They’re financial tools.

But when your safety brain takes over, even smart, math-backed decisions can feel like drowning.

In this conversation, you’ll learn:

• Why debt is a neutral number — and why context changes everything
• The difference between good debt, bad debt, safer debt, and concentrated risk
• Why your safety brain activates around leverage
• How trauma and past financial experiences shape your reactions
• The 2×2 Debt Matrix framework
• 10 practical tools to regulate anxiety so your planning brain can lead
• The difference between anxiety and intuition

If you’ve ever woken up at 2 a.m. worrying about debt — even when the numbers work — this episode is for you.

Financial leadership is nervous-system leadership.

Anxiety belongs in the room — but not in the driver’s seat.

📥 Download the companion report in the show notes to reinforce the ideas and apply them to your own financial decisions.

—

Dr. Vicki Rackner is a retired surgeon and founder of The TrueWealth Way — a framework that helps physicians build wealth without burning out by aligning money decisions with nervous-system regulation and long-term vision.

Subscribe for more conversations about:

• The Three-Brain Model
• Building net worth with intention
• Moving from burnout to TrueWealth
• Emotional tolerance in investing
• Financial adolescence → financial leadership

You don’t need to eliminate fear to build wealth.
You need to learn how to lead yourself through it.

For more tips and strategies about how to get more of what you want--and less of what you don't.

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thrivingdoctors/
• Youtube: @ThrivingDoctors
  
  

You can earn a high income, look successful, and still feel anxious about money.

In this episode, Dr. Vicki Rackner explores the difference between acting rich and being rich—and why so many high-earning professionals, especially physicians, fall into what she calls the Looking Rich Vortex.

This isn’t about deprivation or budgeting.

It’s about alignment, satisfaction, and building a life that actually works.

You’ll learn:
– Why looking rich is often driven by pressure and comparison
– What it really means to feel rich
– How to make conscious spending choices without guilt or shame

TrueWealth isn’t about appearances.

It’s about clarity.

For more tips and strategies about how to get more of what you want--and less of what you don't.

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thrivingdoctors/
• Youtube: @ThrivingDoctors
  
  

How do you make financial decisions? What can money feel so hard? Learn more about the importance of actively managing your brain as the first step towards financial success.

For more tips and strategies about how to get more of what you want--and less of what you don't.

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thrivingdoctors/
• Youtube: @ThrivingDoctors
  
  

If you want better financial results in 2026, you don’t need a better budget, more discipline, or a more complicated financial plan.

You need one skill:
the ability to actively manage your human brain.

Most physicians already know what to do financially.
The problem isn’t intelligence or effort.

The problem is that when your nervous system is dysregulated, your planning brain goes offline — and financial decisions become reactive instead of conscious.

In this episode, I share the one strategic focus that makes every other financial strategy work:

👉 Actively managing your human brain

You’ll learn the three essential skills that allow you to make calm, intentional money choices — even under stress:

• How to choose your thoughts instead of believing every fear your brain offers
• How to feel your feelings without numbing, avoiding, or self-judging
• How to resist urges so short-term relief doesn’t sabotage long-term goals

For more tips and strategies about how to get more of what you want--and less of what you don't.

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thrivingdoctors/
• Youtube: @ThrivingDoctors
  
  

Do you feel like you’re in charge of your money—or does it feel like your money is in charge of you?

Are there things you want to do with your life—but finances keep getting in the way?

If you don’t understand how money decisions actually shape your life, you can work harder, earn more, and still end up with less of what you want and more of what you don’t.

In this episode, Dr. Vicki Rackner lays out The TrueWealth Way--a process of making consistent conscious choices that lead to a life in which your calendar and bank statements reflect your values and your priorities.

For more tips and strategies about how to get more of what you want--and less of what you don't.

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thrivingdoctors/
• Youtube: @ThrivingDoctors
  
  

How do you know if working with a financial advisor is actually helping you?

Doctors often ask this quietly:

**“Am I better off with you… or without you?”**

In this episode, Dr. Vicki Rackner explores how doctors experience financial relationships, why uncertainty is so draining, and what ethical shared decision-making really feels like.

This isn’t about returns.

It’s about clarity, agency, and whether a professional relationship truly supports your life.

For more tips and strategies about how to get more of what you want--and less of what you don't.

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thrivingdoctors/
• Youtube: @ThrivingDoctors
  
  

Doctor, are you burned out? Here's what you need to know to break through burnout.

For more tips and strategies about how to get more of what you want--and less of what you don't.

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thrivingdoctors/
• Youtube: @ThrivingDoctors
  
  

Everybody faces financial losses. However, the way in which you respond to the losses can make things better--or worse.

In this episode, Dr. Vicki Rackner lays out the 5 Financial Pain Personalities. This describes your innate response to financial pain and losses.

Your Financial Pain Personality is like your natural tennis swing. If you know the ball pulls to the left, you can make adjustments so the ball winds up where you want it.

So, too, once you know your Financial Pain Personality, you can make course corrections to create the financial results you wish.

Here are the 5 Financial Pain Personalities:

• The Strong Stoic
• The Worried Well
• The Ostrich
• The Financial Underdog
• The Ideal Responder

For more tips and strategies about how to get more of what you want--and less of what you don't.

• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thrivingdoctors/
• Youtube: @ThrivingDoctors