Previous research had demonstrated the importance of metacognition in isolated disciplines – but Chen wondered whether there might be some more general patterns across different domains. Are some people simply more inclined to apply metacognitive strategies in whatever goal they set out to achieve? And if so, could we teach more people to think strategically in that way?

To find out, Chen and her team of researchers put together a questionnaire to test the strategic mindset, and you can try it for yourself below. Simply rate the following statements on a scale of 1 (never) to 5 (all the time):

• When you are stuck on something, how often do you ask yourself: “What are things I can do to help myself?”
• Whenever you feel like you are not making progress, how often do you ask yourself: “Is there a better way of doing this?”
• Whenever you feel frustrated with something, how often do you ask yourself: “How can I do this better?”
• In moments when you feel challenged, how often do you ask yourself: “What are things I can do to make myself better at this?”
• When you are struggling with something, how often do you ask yourself: “What can I do to help myself?”
• Whenever something feels difficult, how often do you ask yourself: “What can I do to get better at this?”

The higher you score, the more likely you are to have a strategic mindset.

In an initial experiment, Chen’s team asked a group of 365 students to complete the scale in the middle of the autumn semester. As hypothesised, their score predicted their use of various learning strategies (of the kind described above) over the course of the next term, which, in turn, predicted their grades in various classes.

To check if the strategic mindset influenced goal pursuit across different domains, Chen’s team then examined a further group of 356 participants pursuing an educational or professional challenge (such as learning a new computing language) and a health or fitness goal (such as losing weight). Once again, the strategic mindset successfully predicted the participants’ use of metacognitive techniques – like regular, systematic progress monitoring – and, as a result, their overall chances of reaching their both types of goals. Some people seem to take more care in adapting and refining their approach to whatever activity they’re doing – and it makes a real difference to their overall success in apparently unrelated areas of life.