Podcast Summary

Episode Overview

Podcast: Your Daily Real Estate Podcast with Tristan Ahumada
Episode: 683: 6 Questions That Expose the Real You (Harvard Professor’s Guide)
Date: October 13, 2025
Host: Tristan Ahumada

In this succinct and insightful episode, Tristan Ahumada shares a powerful framework of six introspective questions derived from his recent interview with a Harvard professor, author of Manage Yourself to Lead Others. The episode aims to help real estate professionals (and anyone striving for strong leadership) deepen their self-understanding to improve both their lives and businesses. Tristan encourages listeners to write down and reflect on these questions for personal growth and effective leadership.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Power of Reflective Questions

• Tristan introduces six questions from the Harvard professor's book, emphasizing their depth and transformative potential.
• He stresses the importance of taking time with each question and suggests using journaling as a tool for exploration.

The Six Questions

1. Who and whose thinking has shaped you as an individual?

"This includes family, teachers, coworkers, friends, mentors, authors, or even strangers and ideas that influenced your worldview and leadership style."
(Tristan Ahumada, 00:47)

• Tristan notes this is the most extensive question, with the professor herself taking “six pages of notes" just on this topic.
• He recommends thoughtful, stage-by-stage reflection to unearth meaningful influences.

2. What are the defining moments in your life?

"These could be successes, failures, transitions, or hardships that changed how you see yourself or others."
(Tristan Ahumada, 01:35)

• Tristan shares advice from a Stanford professor about naming major life events and categorizing them on a timeline for clarity.
• He personally tracks these "watershed moments" using Trello, highlighting the value of organization in personal reflection.

3. What values are most important to you and where did they come from?

• This question naturally builds on the first, helping to clarify one's core beliefs and their origins.

4. What emotions come most often in your life and work?

"For me, it was envy. I've always struggled with envy... Understanding emotional patterns helps leaders identify triggers, behaviors and their impact on relationships."
(Tristan Ahumada, 03:00)

• Tristan candidly shares his own recurring emotion, envy, and explains how understanding it helped him redirect focus and develop self-awareness.
• He invokes Charlie Munger’s wisdom:

  "The longer you stick with something, the more the bigger the reward is going to be. Because a lot of people just fall short because they lose focus, right?"
  (Tristan quoting Munger, 03:52)

5. What feedback have you received from others and what patterns do you notice?

"Andrews suggests reflecting on repeated themes in feedback, both positive and negative, to uncover blind spots."
(Tristan Ahumada, 04:09)

• Tristan underlines the significance of feedback as a mirror for self-improvement and leadership growth.
• He finds a strong connection between questions 4 and 5 in his own reflection process.

6. What do you want your legacy to be? How do you want to be remembered as a leader and person?

"This final question shifts focus towards purpose and long-term alignment between personal meaning and leadership behavior."
(Tristan Ahumada, 04:41)

• The capstone question, urging listeners to contemplate the ultimate impact they wish to make.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On taking time with each question:

  "These questions aren't going to be questions that you answer quickly. It's going to take a lot of thought on your part."
  (Tristan Ahumada, 00:59)

• On using timelines for major events:

  "[The Stanford professor] said, Tristan, I named the different events or watershed moments in my life, and that helps me categorize them on a timeline. And I thought, that's super brilliant."
  (Tristan Ahumada, 01:56)

• On overcoming envy:

  "Instead of saying, oh man, why are they doing that? I want to do that, man, that's so cool. They're so lucky. But it's like, wait a second, Tristan, you're already doing your thing. Stick with what you're doing."
  (Tristan Ahumada, 03:29)

Episode Structure & Timestamps

• 00:00 – 00:47 – Introduction; overview of the six questions and their source
• 00:47 – 01:35 – Question 1 discussion: influences and shaping factors
• 01:35 – 02:36 – Question 2 discussion: defining/major life moments; timeline and naming events
• 02:36 – 03:00 – Question 3 discussion: values and their origins
• 03:00 – 03:52 – Question 4 discussion: recurring emotions, personal example (envy), quote from Charlie Munger
• 04:09 – 04:41 – Question 5 and patterns in feedback
• 04:41 – 05:00 – Question 6 and thoughts on legacy and purpose
• 05:00 – end – Final encouragements and call to action (skip promotional mention)

Conclusion

Tristan encourages listeners to take these six questions seriously, reflect deeply, and share the journey with him if desired. He believes this exercise is fundamental for personal growth, leadership, and maintaining focus in business and life.

"If you want to get better at showing up for yourself, your family, your business associates, just the world, please answer these questions."
(Tristan Ahumada, 04:52)

Resource Mentioned:

• Manage Yourself to Lead Others: Why Great Leadership Begins with Self-Understanding by referenced Harvard professor.

For a copy of the questions or to discuss your reflections, Tristan invites listeners to message him on Instagram.