Life presents us with both challenges (headwinds) and blessings (tailwinds). Previous studies show that people have a headwind bias; that is, we tend to be more aware of the challenges we must overcome than the benefits we enjoy. This bias could, at least partly, be explained by motivational factors: recognizing headwinds can provide an excuse for failure while amplifying our achievements. But what happens when there are no motivational influences? In a pre-registered study (N = 191), we tested the hypothesis that people have stronger awareness of interference (incongruent trials) than facilitation (congruent trials) using the imitation-inhibition task, a simple cognitive reaction time task. After completion, they rated how fast they thought they had responded on the three different trial types (congruent, neutral, incongruent). Consistent with the typical finding of the imitation-inhibition task, we found faster responses for congruent trials than neutral trials, and faster responses for neutral trials than for incongruent trials. However, in line with our hypothesis, we found participants to be more aware of the interference caused by incongruent trials than facilitation offered by congruent trials. In a second pre-registered experiment, we tested the hypothesis that people can accurately predict their performance on the different trial types by administering the awareness questions before the task. This time, participants’ (N = 191) predictions were in line with their actual task performance. Taken together, these studies suggests that while people can rationally predict their cognitive performance, their awareness shifts after task completion, leading to an underappreciation of tailwinds.