Summary4 min read

Your Daily Real Estate Podcast with Tristan Ahumada

Episode 757: 6 Questions I Ask Daily to Stay Sharp
Date: December 26, 2025
Host: Tristan Ahumada

Episode Overview

In this quick-hit solo episode, Tristan Ahumada explores the power of asking yourself daily questions to maintain focus, drive personal and professional growth, and stay aligned with your larger vision in real estate (and life). Drawing on lessons from 22 years in the industry and insights gleaned from top thinkers he interviews on his other show, "Brilliant," Tristan shares the six core questions he uses to keep himself sharp as a leader, agent, and human being. Designed to be immediately actionable, these prompts are meant to cut through the noise and foster continual improvement for real estate professionals.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Value of Self-Questioning

Tristan emphasizes that regularly asking better questions helps individuals discover themselves, improve self-leadership, and show up stronger for others.

“As I think about these questions and I answer them, I discover myself better and I can lead myself to where I want to get to.” — Tristan (00:12)
He mentions drawing inspiration from brilliant authors and thought leaders, always listening for the questions they use to guide themselves.

The 6 Daily Questions Breakdown

1. What truly matters most today?

“Before we react into tasks or messages, identify the one or two actions that move your business and life forward. Everything else is noise.” — Tristan (01:13)

Ask this in the morning to clarify top priorities before getting swept up by the day.
Breaks priorities into self (“What truly matters, Tristan? Is it your emotions today? … Should you be learning a lot more?”), family (“Connect with my children… my wife, spouse, whatever it is…”), and business.
Tristan’s framework: self → family → business.

2. Who needs my best energy right now?

“Who needs your best energy right now? Think about your team, your clients, your family, yourself, where your presence makes the biggest difference today.” — Tristan (02:34)

Intentionally identify people (team, clients, family, even yourself) who would benefit most from your focused, positive presence.
Leadership failure often stems from not showing up or guiding others proactively.

3. Am I leading with clarity or with chaos?

“I ask myself this question often because I’m always scared, like, am I all over the place? Am I clear about my messaging to all the different people that I’m connected with…?” — Tristan (03:15)

Before important meetings or decisions, gauge if you’re communicating clearly or just scrambling.
Tip: If you feel rushed or unclear, pause and reset before leading others.

4. What did I avoid yesterday that I should face today?

“What am I avoiding daily that I should have already done?" — Tristan (03:47)

Use this at end of the day to identify avoided tasks, and make small, consistent progress facing them.
Confronting avoidance is key to forward momentum.

5. What can I do to protect my peace and health?

“Sometimes it’s a short walk, sometimes it’s a quiet lunch… sometimes it’s having that conversation with that person that you’ve been avoiding." — Tristan (04:14)

Prioritize self-care and emotional well-being, not just activity.
Be intentional about breaks, boundaries, and difficult conversations.

6. Am I still moving toward my vision or just staying busy?

“Every day should connect back to your larger mission. If it doesn’t, you’re likely drifting, not leading.” — Tristan (04:47)

Differentiate between productive work and mere busyness.
Reflect: Are today’s activities aligned with your big goals, or are you just filling time?

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

On learning from other leaders:

“Some of them are Stanford professors and Harvard professors, some of them are bestselling authors, speechwriters for the president… I’m always listening to the questions that they ask themselves and I’m always paying attention.” — Tristan (00:27)
On taking inspiration from peers:

“Along the same lines as those six questions… I think it was Margaret Andrews from that book that she wrote from that class she teaches in Harvard. It was a podcast we did like two weeks ago—Leading Yourself." — Tristan (05:38)
On tracking your real focus:

“There are times when I find myself just staying busy. And the more I track things, I realize, ooh, I was just staying busy. I was just wasting time there…" — Tristan (05:08)

Timestamps for Key Segments

00:12 – The Importance of Asking Daily Questions
01:13 – Q1: What truly matters most today? (Self, Family, Business)
02:34 – Q2: Who needs my best energy right now?
03:15 – Q3: Am I leading with clarity or with chaos?
03:47 – Q4: What did I avoid yesterday that I should face today?
04:14 – Q5: What can I do to protect my peace and health?
04:47 – Q6: Am I still moving toward my vision or just staying busy?
05:38 – Reference to “Leading Yourself” and Margaret Andrews

Final Thoughts

Tristan reiterates how these six questions are central to sustaining both business growth and personal fulfillment in real estate. He encourages listeners to reflect on these prompts, tailor them to their own lives, and reach out if they'd like a list of the questions.

“These are the six questions. I would love for you to answer them on your own. It’ll give you a lot more clarity.” — Tristan (05:27)

For a copy of the six questions, Tristan invites listeners to contact him via Instagram.

Loading summary

Transcript1 lines

[00:00]
A
I'm always thinking about better questions to ask myself because as I think about these questions and I answer them, I discover myself better and I can lead myself to where I want to get to. Now I also get to interview some of the most amazing authors out there in my other podcast called Brilliant that we just started. Some of the best, most brilliant authors. Some of them are Stanford professors and Harvard professors, some of them are best selling authors, speech writers for the president, like amazing people. And so I'm always listening to the questions that they ask themselves and I'm always, I'm always paying attention. It's like, what can I do better? Which is one of the questions, right? But here are six questions that I came up with that I've modified over the last 22 years since I've started. Why realty? Just trying to show up better for myself and those people that I'm leading and obviously you and lab coat agents, just the whole real estate industry. And I want you to go through this, these with me. If you need this, let me know. It's episode 7 11. I'm Tristan. This is your daily real estate. It's a podcast, it's a show, it's meant to make you a better real estate agent, a better human being. Five minutes every day, episode 7 11. That's kind of cool. 7 11. I loved 711 as a kid. I used to go up there and get the IC and then play arcade games. Anyway, questions to ask yourself daily. Question number one. What truly matters most today? What truly matters most today? It's a question that I would ask and I ask myself in the mornings, right? Not in the evenings. And this is what I have on here. Before we react into tasks or messages, identify the one or two actions that move your business and life forward. Everything else is noise now for me, I revolve around self, family, business. When I ask myself this question, what truly matters today? All in the self. What truly matters, Tristan? Is it your emotions today? Is it that you haven't taken care of yourself physically, mentally? Should you be learning a lot more? What's been going on lately? Spiritually, how's that going? Or sometimes it's family. What truly matters today? You know, I noticed that I haven't been connecting with my children lately. It's. Before it gets further out, let's connect. Or my wife, right. Spouse, whatever it is. And then lastly is business. When, when it comes to business, I have a lot of different things that I could gravitate to, but I'm always looking at my priorities. Like what Makes my business move forward. It's how I show up. Creating content with relevancy in. In a way that connects with my audience. Right? So what truly matters most today? Sometimes it's two things. Just make sure to write them down. Number two, who needs my best energy right now? This is a powerful question. That's the way I typically do it is I. I go through in my head, and I think it's like, who? Like, if I thought today, who needs my best energy right now? And I thought of two different people instantly, you could probably do the same thing. Depending on who you're working with, who you're seeing maybe needs your help or guidance, right? Because what you'll notice over a long period of time in running your business or businesses is that most of the time, people don't just fail, you fail. People like you fail to show up, to guide them, to be with them, to just inspire them to set that vision right. Obviously, if you have the wrong people that just are lazy, that's different. I'm talking about you. People that you hired, you initially vetted, and you're like, man, this is amazing. Or the people you're working with that are your clients that you've got your home listed with or you're helping them buy. Who needs your best energy right now? Think about your team, your clients, your family, yourself, where your presence makes the biggest difference today. That's a little note I put there. Number three, am I leading with clarity or with chaos? Man, I ask myself this question often because I'm always scared. Like, am I all over the place? Am I clear about my messaging to all the different people that I'm connected with, my family, those that see me and they see my faults, and they also see my wins, and they are on the front row of this with me, right? My staff, my clients, ask yourself this question. And I put here, check your mindset before meeting or before meetings or decisions. If you feel rushed or unclear, pause and reset before you lead others. Powerful. Number four, what did I avoid yesterday that I should face today? I have this question the end of the day, and I didn't quite phrase it that way. I. What I did is I have these questions written because I hand write a lot. I took a picture of it and I uploaded it to ChatGPT and I said, hey, fix these questions so they make more sense to anybody reading them. And so that's what you've got here. The way I phrase this one, what did I avoid yesterday that I should be faced today? I phrase mine. What am I avoiding daily that I should have already done, Right? So in similar fashion, there are things you're avoiding and you should. You should tackle it action by action, not all at once. Anyway. Number five, what can I do to protect my peace and health? What a powerful question. Sometimes it's a short walk, sometimes it's a quiet lunch, right? Sometimes it's ending your day on time, or sometimes it's having that conversation with that person that you'd have been avoiding. And you're like, do I have to have this conversation? Right? Because you're like, this is eating up my energy daily. Because I keep on thinking and thinking and thinking. I'm just going to have to talk to this person. Number six, am I still moving toward my vision or just staying busy? Big one. Every day should connect back to your larger mission. If it doesn't, you're likely drifting, not leading. And this for me, am I still moving toward my vision or just staying busy? There are times when I find myself just staying busy. And the more I track things, I realize, ooh, I was just staying busy. I was just wasting time there now, not saying, don't take time to rejuvenate, don't take time off, don't take time to just give your mind rest. Right? I'm talking about that time that you said you were going to be busy and focusing on your priorities and you're not. That's what I'm talking about. Anyway, these are the six questions. I would love for you to answer them on your own. It'll give you a lot more clarity. Along the same line lines as those six questions that. I think it was Margaret Andrews from that book that she wrote from that class she teaches in Harvard. It was a podcast we did like two weeks ago. Leading yourself. Something along those lines. Anyway, if you need this, let me know. It's episode 7 11, like the store. And I'll send it over to you through Instagram. Have an awesome day.