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.

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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