If you have metacognition, you understand the way you think. You know your strengths and weaknesses in specific skill areas, subjects and activities. The second part of metacognition is monitoring and regulating how you learn. It is the capacity to take a task and decide how best to accomplish it by using your strategies and skills effectively. Robert Sternberg, a professor of psychology and education at Yale University, defines successful intelligence as mental self-management.
Successful intelligence is a great way to explain metacognition.
Know your strengths and weaknesses. Capitalize on your strengths and compensate for your weaknesses. Defy negative expectations. This is called self-efficacy. Seek out role models.