White Coat Investor Podcast #434: Fixing Your Life, Burnout, and Money Problems by Identifying Your Core Values with Robert Glazer
Released: August 28, 2025
Host: Dr. Jim Dahle
Guest: Robert Glazer, entrepreneur & author (upcoming keynote speaker at WCICON 2026)

Episode Overview

In this engaging episode, Dr. Jim Dahle sits down with entrepreneur, best-selling author, and leadership expert Robert Glazer to explore the critical importance of identifying and living by your personal core values. The discussion dives deep into how uncovering and aligning with these fundamental principles can help high-income professionals—especially physicians—find more meaning in their work, avoid burnout, make aligned financial decisions, and live more authentically both at work and at home.

Glazer shares his own journey, practical frameworks for self-discovery, and compelling stories of transformation. From leadership and family to money and community, this episode is packed with actionable wisdom for anyone seeking to optimize not just their finances, but their entire life trajectory.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Robert Glazer’s Backstory & Early Lessons

• Glazer grew up with strong entrepreneurial instincts, starting businesses as a kid, but struggled academically.

  "I was much more interested in work and that sort of stuff than any of my schoolwork. And so I was constantly being told that I was not living up to my capability or expectations." (06:32)

• He learned through underachievement and later overachievement—nearly burning out—before finding a balanced, values-driven path.

2. What Are Core Values?

• Definition: Personal core values are “the non negotiable principles that guide our behavior and decisions. They're intrinsic, not aspirational; they're who we've always been.” (09:00)
• Glazer distinguishes between corporate values and true personal core values:

  "These are consistent...they show up in all areas of work, life, friendships. And I think they're clarifying—having actionable core values that you can articulate helps you make some of the most important decisions." (09:54)

• People often only recognize their core values when they're violated—a "lights off" analogy is used:

  “Understanding your core values is turning the lights on in the tunnel, seeing the lines and staying away from the walls…” (10:54)

3. The Big Three Life Choices: Partner, Vocation, Community

• Partner: Alignment of core values is essential for relationship success:

  "Our partner could be very different than us...but we've got to be on the same page about the big things." (13:14)

• Vocation/Profession: It's not only what you do, but where and how you do it that matters for values alignment.

  “You can work at one law firm that has a different culture and value set from another…how and where do you choose to do it?” (14:08)

• Community: The environment you choose exerts huge influence on daily behavior and well-being.

  “The communities we choose really drive our behavior and we need to be a little more cognizant of how they support our values.” (15:50)

4. Discovering Your Core Values: A Practical Framework

• Glazer developed a step-by-step process, available as an online course and in his upcoming book The Compass Within.
• Key Exercise: Six powerful self-reflection questions (outlined at robertglazer.com/6) to identify themes in both positive and negative life experiences.

  “Just grab a coffee, answer these things and take a look…when you do that, you might look and see, huh, there’s some themes here…” (19:16)

• Example of a question: “What non work environments have you been highly engaged in your life?” (20:06)
• Glazer cautions against using “one word” values (e.g., “family” or “integrity”)—suggests specificity and actionable phrasing.

5. Application: Aligning Work, Community, and Relationships

• When you know your values, you can proactively seek or shape environments, roles, and relationships to match.
• Leaders should openly share their core values with their teams to foster mutual understanding.
• Misalignment—especially in medicine—often leads to burnout, not just volume of work:

  “Burnout has not correlated to the amount of work. It's the amount of time you're misaligned to these values or what you want to be doing… when we're [values-aligned], time slips.” (25:10)

6. Real-Life Examples & Anecdotes

• Glazer shares stories of doctors and professionals reinventing their careers or lifestyles to fit non-negotiable values (e.g., a physician who arranged his practice to spend more time in the outdoors).
• Often, financial sacrifices are involved, but the trade-off is greater happiness:

  “Sometimes you have more, but you're not happy. Like… I can just change this equation.” (28:24)

7. The Concept of “Enough”—Financial Wisdom

• Discussion on the elusive pursuit of “enough,” relating to both happiness and finances:

  “They asked people with $1M, $10M, $100M: how much is enough? … it was like 40% more than they currently had.” (29:35)

• Quote from Kurt Vonnegut: “I have something that you’ll never have…enough.” (30:20)

8. Summit vs. Climb: Reframing Success & Fulfillment

• Powerful analogy: It’s more about enjoying the process (“the climb”) than reaching milestones (“the summit”).

  “We architect a lot of things of, when I get to this, I will be happy. And that is the false premise.” (31:50)

• Dr. Dahle relates this to his own climbing experiences:

  “It’s amazing how little time you spend on the summit. Sometimes it’s literally walking across the summit…It really is about the climb and life too.” (31:55)

9. Leading Authentically from Core Values

• Leaders who model authenticity through their core values empower teams and prevent misunderstandings:

  “The best leaders are deeply authentic. And I think we lead from these values, whether we do that with awareness of it or without awareness of it.” (35:05)

• Example: A leader whose main value is trust openly communicates how trust is earned and lost, preventing unspoken friction.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Childhood Lessons:
  “I would not have gotten into medical school with my report card. Let’s be clear.” – Robert Glazer (08:10)

• On Core Values as Decision-Making Rubric:
  “My experience is, if I have a hundred people in a room and I say, how many people know what their core values are? …one or two people will say, yes…I know my core values, here they are, they’re written out, and they're not one words…those people tend to be operating at a different level.” (09:00)

• On Burnout:
  “Burnout has not correlated to the amount of work. It’s the amount of time you’re misaligned to these values…” (25:10)

• On Having Enough:
  “I have something that you’ll never have: enough.” – (Kurt Vonnegut, cited at 30:20)

• On Enjoying the Climb:
  “We architect a lot of things of, when I get to this, I will be happy. And that is the false premise…find a really pretty climb.” (31:50)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• 04:03: Introduction of Robert Glazer & background.
• 06:32: Glazer’s upbringing and early lessons about work and money.
• 08:51: What are core values? Core values vs. aspirational/corporate values.
• 10:12: Core values as a guide for work, relationships, and community.
• 13:08: Advice for aligning partner, profession, and community with your core values.
• 16:49: Glazer’s framework for discovering core values—the six questions.
• 20:03: Example of a core value discovery question.
• 22:56: Tips for matching your community and vocation with personal values.
• 25:10: Burnout and values misalignment in medicine.
• 28:13: Navigating financial needs while moving toward values-based living.
• 29:35: Discussion around the question of “enough.”
• 31:50: The climb vs. the summit: Enjoying the process, not just the goal.
• 35:03: How understanding values changes the way you lead and work.
• 38:11: Closing remarks and preview of Robert’s keynote at WCICON 2026.

Additional Notes

• Robert's new book, The Compass Within, uses a parable to illustrate the values-discovery process and is bundled with access to his course for early readers.
• Glazer’s “six questions” framework is available free at robertglazer.com/6.
• Robert will be a keynote speaker at the upcoming WCICON 2026 in Las Vegas, with free copies of his book given to attendees.
• The episode avoids shallow “one word” values and emphasizes actionable, behavioral core values as the path to clarity, satisfaction, and sustainable financial wellness.

In summary:
This episode provides a rich blend of stories, frameworks, and actionable advice for any high-achieving professional—especially in medicine—seeking not just financial security, but real purpose, happiness, and well-being by living in alignment with authentic personal values.