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Rewriting Your Beliefs: Jillian Pawlowski on Metacognition, Self-Trust, and Becoming Enough
Episode 97 • 6th November 2025 • Campus Chronicles • Casa De Confidence Productions
00:00:00 00:25:53

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What if your thoughts were not facts but choices?

In this week’s episode of Campus Chronicles, Brooke Young speaks with Jillian Pawlowski, Programme Director and Head Coach at Empowered Educator. Jillian is a trauma-informed certified coach who blends metacognition, mind-body connection, and radical self-love to encourage lasting change that honours the whole person.

She helps educators and students alike reclaim their identity, regulate their nervous systems, and lead from within because when educators thrive, students do too.

Together, Jillian and Brooke explore the power of metacognition, subconscious beliefs, and the courage to unlearn patterns that no longer serve us. Jillian shares her personal story of stepping away from education to rediscover her purpose and how she now helps others do the same through awareness and compassion.

You will learn:

  • What metacognition really means and how to apply it daily
  • Why unlearning is the foundation of self-growth
  • How nervous system regulation supports lasting change
  • How to build trust with yourself through awareness
  • Jillian’s three simple pieces of advice for students: you’re enough, be kind, and stay curious

Learn more about Jillian’s work at EmpoweredEducator.com or connect with her on Instagram @jillianpawlowski.

🎧 Listen wherever you get your podcasts and discover how to think about your thinking.

Transcripts

Speaker:

You guys, having Jillian here is such a

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dream come true because she is going to

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teach us all about metacognition and I

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need to learn about metacognition.

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So this is really kind of killing two

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birds with one stone.

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I'm so excited.

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Campus Chronicles is the ultimate podcast

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for college students seeking real

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stories, oddest advice and empowering

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insights to thrive in

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student life and beyond.

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Hosted by Brooke Young and the Campus

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Chronicles team, this weekly show

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features inspiring interviews, practical

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tips and conversations that tackle the

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challenges, wins and personal growth that

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comes with university life.

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Perfect for college students, campus

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leaders and young adults looking to make

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the most of their

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journey, one episode at a time.

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Subscribe now on Apple Podcast, Spotify

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or YouTube and join the community

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redefining what it means

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to thrive in university.

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Jillian, I want to begin

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with our famous question.

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What is your Campus Chronicles story?

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Hi, Brooke.

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Hi, Campus Chronicles.

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I'm so elated to be here.

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Okay, my Campus Chronicles.

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Like any good, epic quest or tale, it has

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its peaks and many,

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many valleys, challenges,

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monsters and my Campus Chronicles is

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really a soul exploration because I'm a

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lifelong learner and a

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honestly great student.

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You tell me what classes to take and I

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will get an A plus in them.

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But where it was harrowing for me was

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choosing what to study and what to do and

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the implications of what will I do with

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my life and what am I supposed to do.

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That was devastating to me.

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I could not answer that question.

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I hated when people would say, my

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advisors or my trusted adults in my life

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and my friends would say, you get to

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decide that for yourself.

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I don't want to.

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How can I just buy that?

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I'm 18 years old now.

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Thank you for putting

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words to that phenomenon.

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I was in the same boat.

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Yeah, and I know that many people are.

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It's a big question.

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It's a big question.

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So that was a devastating thing for me

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and it actually led to I got my

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associates and I moved on to pursue a

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bachelor's, but I dropped out because I

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didn't, what I was studying didn't make

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sense to me and I chose to explore the

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career field and the workforce instead.

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But I wound up just trying to fit myself

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into boxes that didn't suit me all in the

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name of I didn't really believe that you

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could create your life by design.

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I didn't believe that.

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And so then of course the question, what

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do you want to study?

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Didn't compute to me and didn't come

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easily to me because I didn't believe

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that I could choose.

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I so deeply believed at that time that

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you're supposed to, and for the

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listeners, like I'm doing air quotes,

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you're supposed to do something safe,

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something responsible, something

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rational, something reasonable.

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Yes, you're supposed

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to have a canned answer.

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I'm going to be a teacher, a nurse,

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something like that.

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Exactly.

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And that was so hard.

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I didn't believe that you could choose.

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You could create your life by design,

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that you could

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actually follow your heart.

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That felt like a fantasy, a pipe dream.

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That's not for people

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like me from towns I'm from.

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You just do something normal, Jill.

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But normal was very unappealing to me.

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So I ended up going into the workforce

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and exploring eventually to do a lot of

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inner work and wind up studying what I

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wanted to study,

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something that does light me up.

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And now, there is a happy ending to the

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tale, but I get to do what I love, what I

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feel like I'm designed to do,

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really, really meaningful work in the

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world that lights me up and excites me.

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So it is possible.

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It's possible to study what excites you.

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It's possible to go for what lights you

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up and dream really big and just keep

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taking steps towards it.

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That's actually a thing.

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Spoiler alert.

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Spoiler alert, to get to where you want

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to go, to have the courage to take those

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steps, we have to address some of these

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things that we think about ourselves,

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that we think about the world, that we

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feel, stories that we've picked up and

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we've put in our backpack, you may say,

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that may be ours and

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they also may not be.

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Yes.

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So important.

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And you mentioned

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metacognition at the beginning.

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And metacognition simply is thinking

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about the way you think,

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the way your mind works.

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And what's so interesting about it,

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another spoiler alert, is that your

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thoughts are options.

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You think many, many, many thoughts in a

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single day and not a single one of them,

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you get to like trust as automatic facts.

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Hold on a second.

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That's when we start to become aware of

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our thoughts and question,

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okay, whose thought is this?

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Where does this come from?

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Is this just a thought that I've been

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repeating on autopilot for three decades?

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Is this something I heard somewhere else?

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Is this something an experience of mine

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taught me that I get to really question

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and reexamine now and examining your

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thoughts and questioning your thoughts is

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so important because your mind's job is

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to populate thoughts.

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That's what it's there to do.

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Yay, it's doing its job.

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That you as the director of your mind

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have a say in the direction those

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thoughts go and they can either be for

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you or sometimes against you.

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And so you get to choose.

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What role does unlearning thought

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patterns have in this?

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The most mission critical role.

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In fact, you know,

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when I say my campus

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chronicles like this harrowing tale of

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it's a real hair and a harrowing tale

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though, because when you're in something

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like that, you feel essentially hopeless.

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Yeah.

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And I'm glad that you use the word feel

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because of your total mind,

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95 to 97% of the way your mind functions

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is subconscious, meaning it goes without

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your saying so without your conscious

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awareness without your

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influence, which is a great thing.

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That means your body

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gets to function on its own.

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You don't have to think about breathing

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and you don't have to think about most of

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your thoughts all day long.

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You simply run on programming on

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subconscious

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programming, which is helpful.

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Yay.

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But, um,

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unlearning is the first step and probably

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the most major step because while your

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brain was developing, you know, in

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childhood, even in teenage

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years and it never stops, right?

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Our subconscious never stops being

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programmed and influenced and learning.

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But while we're there before we're

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conscious and aware enough, like the wise

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adults we are now, it learns things and

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it makes meaning about circumstances and

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experiences that might not necessarily be

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true or that lesson might not serve you

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in this time anymore.

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So the subconscious is of the body and

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that's where your

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belief system lives, right?

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What it feels like where your emotions

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live and that's really running the show.

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So becoming aware of what

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does live in my belief system?

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What do I believe

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about myself about life?

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What I could and should and get to do

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with this one precious life?

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What do I believe?

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What do I feel about that?

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Is actually what's running

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and directing your thoughts.

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The thoughts are the mindset, right?

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The metacognition is a byproduct of

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actually what's happening

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subconsciously on a deeper level.

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Our beliefs can be buried under so many

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thoughts, layers and layers of more

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shallow thoughts to get to

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those deeper core beliefs.

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How do we go on a journey of exploring

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what we actually believe, especially if

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we're nervous or we're scared to look

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that critically at

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ourselves, to really see ourselves?

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I love this question and I appreciate you

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asking it because safety, a felt sense of

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safety and I'll call it nervous system

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regulation is another companion that is

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important to have on this journey of

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self-exploration because it can be scary

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to find out what lives down there.

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So nervous system regulation and creating

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a felt sense of safety in your body to

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sort of start to let your body know and

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communicate with your mind and

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communicate with yourself and communicate

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with your body that hey, it's actually

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safe to see this information.

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I'm ready for you to show me what I need

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to see because I can't change what I

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don't notice and what I'm not aware of

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and I'm ready to make these changes and

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I'm ready for this information and

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trusting that your subconscious, your

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mind and your body, they'll never show

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you anything you're not ready for.

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So you get to start this journey by

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combating that resistance with nervous

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system regulation and it also just feels

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really good and it's very soothing

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because when you're in a stress response

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or an activated state, what actually

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happens is your prefrontal cortex doesn't

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function as effectively.

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Your prefrontal cortex is where a higher

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level thinking, analysis, decision making

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comes from but if we're feeling afraid,

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it's not going to function as critically.

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So the first thing that you want to do is

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begin to have a relationship with your

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nervous system, begin to have a

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relationship with your body so that way

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you can hear it and feel it and tell it

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that it's safe for the

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information that you're ready for.

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As someone who has done some of this

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work, it's really changed my life but I

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have to be honest, I have definitely

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found things in the deeper levels of my

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subconscious, asking myself questions,

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going down that rabbit hole that I didn't

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want to see and things I didn't

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necessarily want to be true.

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What is your advice to someone who comes

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across a belief that feels very

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overwhelming, scary?

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You are not alone and while our

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experience can feel very personal, it's

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actually universal and you might be

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surprised to find out another spoiler,

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whatever may be limiting or even

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limiting or not serving you, not

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empowering, disempowering belief that you

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have found that you didn't want to see,

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that might even be loud information for

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your nervous system to see and

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experience, I guarantee you, you're not

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the only person who feels that way.

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And so the advice that I

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have for you is two things.

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One is to get into community of people

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who are doing this work with you.

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There's a sea of us out here who are on a

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self-exploration, healing,

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growth and expansion journey.

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So you're absolutely not alone and to

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find people who are on this journey with

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you because then you also, that's the

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second thing is then you get to see and

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hear other people's experience and say,

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"Oh, I'm so glad they said that because

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me too, I felt that way too."

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What's the first step if someone wants to

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go on the journey but

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they don't know how?

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After they regulate their nervous system,

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what do they ask themselves?

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What do they do to start to get there?

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I would start with desire and dreams

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because when you know where you want to

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go, maybe the first step I encourage you

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and invite you to take is have a little

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brainstorm session or a

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dream session with yourself.

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Sit down, gift yourself the time and

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space to get clear on

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if anything was possible.

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What would I attempt or what do I truly

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desire in my heart of hearts?

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Write that vision for yourself because

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when you have that vision and you've

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written out all of your desires, go big,

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get juicy, get crazy, get expansive.

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Test yourself on that

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because I know that is a big ask.

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So regulate your nervous system, get

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clear on what you desire

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or what you might desire.

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Allow yourself to be wrong here.

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There's no right or

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wrong answer in a brainstorm.

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Write it all out if

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anything was possible.

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Play that "what if" game with yourself

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and then when you have that, that's when

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you can start to read it and listen for

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any part of either your mind or your body

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that says, "Oh no,

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you could never do that.

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That's not for you."

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When you read your vision to yourself and

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listen for any resistance to your dreams

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and desires and that's where you can

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start to collect some information about,

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"Oh, isn't that interesting?"

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My body cringed when I thought using my

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voice would serve other people and make

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an impact in this world.

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Have you ever heard

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of the "so what" game?

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Say more about it.

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Okay, it's a game I used to play, I'm

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sure you've heard of it, where you would

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like isolated belief and you'd be like,

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"So what if that happened?

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So what if people laughed at me?"

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Well then this would happen,

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"So what if that happened?"

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and go down the rabbit hole.

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It's such an effective exercise for

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getting to a more root belief and that's

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exactly what you're reminding me of.

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Oh, I love that and you know I haven't

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heard of that game so thank you for

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introducing that to me.

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You guys play it, it's really fun.

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Whatever fear you have,

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so what if that happened?

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Then share your next fear,

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so what if that happened?

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And then you're actually going to get to

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what you're scared of.

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So if you do these desires and you have

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specific fears around them, go down the

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rabbit hole and see what the actual

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bigger fear is because it's never what it

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seems like in the beginning.

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Oh, definitely.

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That's beautiful.

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I want to shift gears a little bit and I

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want to discuss this concept of we're

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always being programmed.

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This is important because our dear

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university students that we

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love consume a lot of media.

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How does that inform our programming?

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It's great news because you can sort of

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like feed yourself nutritious media.

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You can support yourself with media that

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inspires you and

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uplifts you and learns you.

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So that's why it is good news and it's

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also a cautionary tale because depending

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on what media you are consuming, you're

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very impressionable.

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It is certainly influencing your

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thoughts, your energetic

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state, your nervous system.

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It's just like any other

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diet, what media you're consuming.

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It directs your thoughts and it imprints

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on your nervous system.

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So it's also a cautionary tale with you

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get to be really considerate and gentle

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with yourself about A, how much and B,

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what kind of media you're feeding

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yourself and know that it is influencing

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and imprinting on your nervous system

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throughout the day and that directly

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impacts the thoughts you're going to

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think and the way you're going to feel

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and what's more important than that.

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There's nothing more important and

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something I think that is worth

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mentioning as a caveat is we are

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desensitized or exposed to sometimes

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violent or cruel content or content that

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is very misaligned with our beliefs.

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How do we handle that sort of content?

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There's a lot of very negative content.

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Yes, please give yourself

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permission to turn it off.

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And I know that can be hard because media

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consumption can be very addicting.

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A lot of the outlets are designed to be

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addicting and addictive and form habits

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with, well, the more that people can

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consume this media, the better.

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But give yourself permission and

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sometimes that takes tough love to remove

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yourself from the consumption of certain

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media outlets when you know you've had

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enough, when you know your

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nervous system needs a break.

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Give yourself permission to turn it off

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and sometimes that can be tough.

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So that's an act of radical self-love.

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I feel like scrolling right now, but I

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know that I need to take a pause and take

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a little break from it.

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That is, I love that

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phrasing radical self-love.

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And I'm sure you've developed that over

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years and years of this work.

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What do you wish you knew about

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metacognition, about beliefs that you

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didn't know when you were in

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university that you know now?

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That you get to

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create all of it by design.

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You are at choice with

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the thoughts you think.

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You are at choice with

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the beliefs you believe.

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You're always at choice.

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And I wish I had known

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that when I was in school.

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When did you start to learn that?

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I've always been a

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lover of personal growth.

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And so I would explore media that was

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around personal growth.

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And I eventually worked my way into a

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course about neuro-identity evolution.

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And that's when I became a certified

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neuro-identity evolution practitioner.

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That taught me everything about the

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deeper belief work, which then inspired

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me to go back to school and actually

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study what I wanted to study and study

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what I loved, which is psychology.

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And then encouraged me

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and kept me on the path of,

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okay, well then you get to get all the

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certificates and training that you need

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to do what you actually want to do.

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But I learned that after the really hard

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chapters of exploring and trial and

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error, it took me a good decade of that

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trial and error to then eventually,

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honestly stumble upon.

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I just kept exploring until I found the

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thing that made me feel at home in my

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soul, which is personal growth.

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If we're going to get clear on what that

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was, it was personal

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growth and identity evolution.

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And then I learned, oh my gosh,

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everything's a choice.

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Wow, this is great.

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And I was able to elevate my

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consciousness, my awareness to know that

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it's a choice because previously I had

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been operating that I didn't know that it

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was a choice, but now you know.

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Now it's a choice.

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Okay, so here's our tough last question

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for university students who are maybe

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navigating that tough season.

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What three pieces of

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advice do you have for them?

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The first piece of advice is really to

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practice opening your eyes, your ears,

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and your heart to evidence all around you

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that you're already doing it.

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You're already enough today,

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period.

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Start fair.

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There's nowhere to get to.

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I love dreams and goals and achieving

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:

things, but it's so much more sustainable

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:

when we come from a place

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:

of you are already enough.

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You are already whole.

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You're already doing it.

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You're alive.

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Yay.

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That's it.

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That's advice number one is start there.

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:

And so just tuning your eyes and ears to

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see it, see evidence of it, see how far

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:

you've already come.

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:

Can we start there?

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:

And then advice two and three is kindness

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to yourself along the way.

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:

Emulate yourself, give yourself kudos, be

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gentle with yourself, be gracious and

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:

compassionate with yourself.

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:

And if that sounds like a far

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:

cry, start small and practice.

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:

And then three is if you can share that

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:

kindness with others, it's

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:

really good for your own brain.

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:

Imagine that.

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:

Yeah, so that doesn't win.

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:

Oh, that's beautiful.

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:

I love those pieces of advice.

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:

And I can see how along my journey, I've

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:

really leaned into all of those,

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:

particularly the first one, leaning into

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:

realizing I was already doing the thing,

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:

maybe not at the scale

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:

that I wanted it to be at.

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:

That was tremendous in getting me where I

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:

actually wanted to go.

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:

And because when you get there,

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:

you'll want to go somewhere else.

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:

You will.

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:

We're never really there.

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:

And that's why, you know, in any life

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:

journey, growth journey, it's so

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:

important to cultivate that as like that

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:

belief that you are already enough.

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:

Because you'll never really get there.

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:

We're never done.

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:

We're never finished.

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:

So feeling like you're already there is a

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:

great way to start the journey.

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:

Oh, my goodness, Jillian, if someone

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:

wants to consume your beautiful content,

565

:

hear more of your voice, where do they

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:

follow you on socials?

567

:

Jillian Polowski on

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:

Instagram is my social.

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:

And she's going to put

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:

good content into your brain.

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:

She'll feed you

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:

healthy, nourishing things.

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:

Yes, I'm so excited, too.

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:

It's my pleasure.

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:

And for the pre-service educators, if

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:

you're studying education, I love, love,

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:

love to wrap all things, metacognition,

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:

subconscious beliefs.

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:

That's what I do in Empowered Educator.

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:

So you can find me at

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:

EmpoweredEducator.com or email me at

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:

Jillian at EmpoweredEducator.com as well.

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:

Incredible.

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:

As we wrap up, Jillian, what's next for

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:

you as in where are you

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:

going on your journey?

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:

I'm just curious.

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:

We are opening actually a certification

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:

in Empowered Educator that I'm really

590

:

excited about that's

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:

coming down the pike in 2026.

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:

But this fall, we have a lot of

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:

programming called Thrive, which is like

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:

where we start our metacognition journey.

595

:

And then we can be continued and redesign

596

:

your mind, which is where we take that

597

:

metacognition and take it deeper into the

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:

subconscious in Empowered Educator that I

599

:

can't wait for a new

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:

fall cohort to start.

601

:

It's amazing.

602

:

And as you can see,

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:

you love what you do now.

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:

So I love that your sad, somewhat

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:

harrowing dark story at the beginning has

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:

a beautiful full

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:

circle moment by the end.

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:

Jillian, thank you so

609

:

much for coming on today.

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:

It has been an absolute pleasure to

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:

discuss all things beliefs and

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:

metacognition with beautiful you.

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:

Thank you so much, Brooke.

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:

It's been an absolute pleasure.

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:

Thank you.

616

:

Thank you.

617

:

Yes.

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:

And thank you so much, everyone, for

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:

joining us on another episode of the

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:

Campus Chronicles podcast.

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:

So if today's episode gave you life,

622

:

perspective, or just a much needed moment

623

:

to breathe in a busy world, I don't want

624

:

you to keep it to yourself.

625

:

Share it, tag us, please send it to a

626

:

friend who needs to hear it.

627

:

And if you're not on our

628

:

newsletter yet, what are you doing?

629

:

Go to

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:

campuscroniclespod.com and join the crew.

631

:

We have all the behind the scenes things,

632

:

unfiltered thoughts from me and the team,

633

:

bonus resources and insider only invites

634

:

to events, giveaways and things that we

635

:

really don't post anywhere else.

636

:

I promise I'm not going to spam you.

637

:

It's just the good stuff

638

:

straight to your inbox.

639

:

Being in university is wild enough.

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:

You don't need to

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:

miss out on what matters.

642

:

Sign up now and let's make this next

643

:

semester the one that you stop

644

:

surviving and start thriving.

645

:

Until next time, stay bold, stay curious,

646

:

keep writing your own chapter.

647

:

This is Campus Chronicles.

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