Imposter syndrome.
Do you ever feel like you aren't good enough to do something?
Perhaps you're sitting in a high level meeting at your company.
Everyone's speaking fast, they're using complicated phrases and you think to yourself oh, I don't think I'm good enough to be here.
Well, welcome back to the Easy English Podcast.
I'm your host Oliver, and today we are talking about exactly that imposter syndrome, when we feel like we are an imposter in 2026, where we are more connected and visible than ever.
This feeling isn't simply a bug or something that we have the odd time.
It is a common symptom of high achievers.
And today we're going to stop trying to cure imposter syndrome and figure out how to stop it, but we're going to learn how to use it to have a competitive advantage.
And, of course, we are going to learn a lot of english along the way.
So, as always, we will have our key vocabulary section where, don't worry, I will define what imposter is, what an imposter is.
And we'll have our main content, as well as some comprehension questions, at the end of today's episode too.
So make sure to stick around so that you can practice your English in many different ways.
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Perfect.
Let's take a look at our key vocabulary today.
The first word that I want you to learn and remember for today's episode is the word imposter.
Imposter.
And an imposter is a person who deceives others.
So someone who is maybe lying or being dishonest to other people by pretending to be someone else.
So essentially, an imposter is someone who is pretending to be someone who they are not.
And that leads us to imposter syndrome which, of course, is when you feel like you're pretending to be someone that you're not.
Maybe that you feel like you aren't good enough to be that role.
Our second piece of key vocabulary for today is the word fraud, fraud.
And the word fraud means a person or thing intended to deceive.
And of course, in this case, we're using this as a noun.
So we're saying a person is a fraud.
Our next phrase here is intellectual humility.
Intellectual humility.
Now this is great.
It means the recognition that the things you believe might be wrong.
So when you recognize or you understand that what you may know may also be wrong.
And we'll take a look about why that's important a little bit later.
But it's a phrase that you will hear.
Don't worry if you don't fully understand it yet.
I will explain in the episode.
Our next phrase is high stakes, high stakes.
And this is an adjective.
So we're using high stakes as Something which involves serious risks if there is a failure.
So usually it's a high stakes situation or a high stakes environment.
You know when something could have some serious risks if it goes wrong.
And our final phrase for today, it's a verb and that is to thrive, to thrive.
And this means to grow or develop well.
So to develop well.
And when we are thriving, we are doing very well.
So you might be thriving with your English.
You might be thriving in work.
You're developing and you're doing well.
Okay, let's continue with our content today.
Those are some good phrases and words.
And remember, on Patreon, you'll have access to the flip cards for those words.
The first thing that you need to understand is that generally, mediocre or average people don't usually get imposter syndrome.
If you didn't care about your work or you didn't care about what you're doing and you weren't pushing yourself into more difficult, high stakes environments or situations, you wouldn't feel like an imposter or a fake.
Imposter syndrome can be thought of as like the tax that you pay for being in a room full of people that can often be more experienced than you, or for pushing yourself into different environments or situations.
And in a foreign language like English.
For you, this feeling is multiplied by 10 because your tools English in this case don't always match your talent, so your knowledge and your brain, just quite yet, because your English is still developing.
So, to open this topic, that's what I want you to really take away from this theme and episode today.
Is that feeling like an imposter, feeling like you're maybe not good enough yet it's actually a good sign?
Stop seeing it as a sign of weakness.
You need to start seeing it as proof that you are playing at a higher level, that you're pushing yourself to be better.
Otherwise, you probably wouldn't be feeling that way.
There are some advantages to this feeling of imposter syndrome.
And one of these is that advantage of being or feeling like the outsider.
And when you feel like you don't belong, you start to observe and look at things differently.
So there are advantages to that.
People who feel comfortable.
So maybe feel comfortable with their role, with what they're doing, with what they're learning.
They can often stop paying attention, maybe become a little bit lazier and perhaps stop asking questions as well.
But with imposter syndrome, you also have what we call intellectual humility.
You're recognizing what you don't know.
You're recognizing that you have a lot to learn.
And that is a very strong, a very good trait to have and something that will help you to go far with your English learning, with your career and with your education.
The real benefit from this is you may listen more carefully, you may prepare more thoroughly and you may notice nuances in the language other people don't.
And really taking that approach of feeling like you maybe don't know enough is a good thing.
It can create questions.
You might ask questions like, sorry, could you explain that for me a little bit more?
Or could you help me with that?
Or, you know, I don't think I understand what you mean.
These are all phrases that aren't a sign of weakness.
They're a sign that you want to continue to develop and to do better and to learn more, which I think is fantastic.
So, although sometimes, when you have that feeling or you have those questions, you might feel like an imposter,
You aren't.
You are a learner.
One area I'd like to consider when we look at this topic is really to do with confidence.
So that feeling of confidence and acting after we feel confident.
Or feeling maybe nervous to act.
And when I say to act, I mean, you know, to say something, to do something.
Often before you have to maybe speak in English or talk to someone new or to push yourself with the language, you probably feel quite nervous.
Most people do.
And that's normal.
But I want to talk a little bit about that after our listener spotlight.
So let's have a look at our listener spotlight for today.
Last week, I asked some questions.
One main question about our topic, remote versus office working.
So we're looking at the difference and about some of the advantages and disadvantages between the two.
And I wanted to know a little bit about how you work if you work from the office or if you work from home, and to tell me about your opinion about how it works for you.
If you haven't listened to that episode, I would recommend going and checking it out and giving it a listen.
It's from the last week's episode.
But I have a few comments that I wanted to read out today, some really great ones from some of our listeners that were very well written and answered our questions.
The first comment is from Reggie.
I hope I pronounced that correctly.
I'm just trying to read from the text.
But Reggie said, I also mostly work from home.
At home, I can work more efficiently.
I don't want to go to the office every day because I feel commuting is a waste of time and it makes me exhausted.
However, I like talking with my boss and colleagues.
When I talk with them, I can get new perspectives and information, and sometimes I come up good ideas.
Additionally, once i've met people in person, i find it easier to communicate with them online compared to people i haven't met.
Great comment reggie, i totally agree with you on most of those points.
For me personally, i also find it much easier to work from home And I don't really like commuting to the office either.
So I completely relate to how you feel about that.
And that's a good point.
It's much easier, you know, meeting people in person and then talking online than the other way around.
I would agree with you on that.
Thank you very much for your comments.
I hope to see you on future episodes as well.
We had another great comment from Diego.
And Diego said, Hi Oliver, I work from home mostly.
I have to commute to the office in London once every two-ish months.
It takes me an hour and a half to get there.
I'm more into work remotely from home.
I find it more productive.
However, you need to have a dedicated workspace, use some time management tools and take care not to slack off, especially on Friday afternoons.
Additionally, it's crucial to auto motivate when things aren't well.
Excellent comment, Diego.
I especially loved your use of the phrase slack off.
I think we can all relate to slacking off on a Friday afternoon.
And for other listeners out there, it means to really well, almost to be a little bit lazy, you know, to slack off, to not be working so hard.
So excellent phrase.
Really, really great one.
Excellent comment.
So for this week's question that I would like you to answer if you get a chance for next week is going to be about imposter syndrome.
So I want you to tell me, do you ever experience imposter syndrome?
When and why?
So it can be related to English, it can be related to your career, or maybe a sport or a hobby.
Tell me about your experience with imposter syndrome.
And if you don't have it, you can tell me about that too.
I look forward to reading some of your comments in next week's episode.
Okay.
So back to our topic.
We're looking at imposter syndrome and we were looking a little bit directly at confidence.
So a lot of people think that confidence comes before action.
So before actually doing something, you have to feel confident.
People sometimes say you know, I'll speak up when I feel confident.
But sometimes, To be honest, we know that the opposite is true.
Confidence is a side effect or a result of action, of doing something, of having the experience.
So it comes afterwards.
It's developed from the action.
So if we wait around on confidence appearing, it's probably not going to.
And one of the key ways to get around it is sometimes as humans.
As people, we have what we call the spotlight effect.
We feel that people are actually looking at us a lot closer than they actually are in reality.
In most cases, we need to realise that people aren't looking at us as much as we think they are.
They don't really care, as awful as that sounds, as much as we actually think.
In fact, many of them are worried about their own imposter syndrome and they're thinking probably, about themselves.
Another way to reduce imposter syndrome or that feeling which, as we've covered, isn't always a bad thing is really preparation.
So preparing for your interactions or the situations that you're going into, and recognizing that you can't prepare for everything.
There is always going to be some unknown or new things to learn.
And with English specifically, you know, use it as a learning experience.
I always say this but the things that you don't know, the mistakes that you make, don't take them as like a personal bad thing that you're bad at English or that you're bad at your job.
Take them as something to improve on.
So the mistakes are really, really good for improving and learning English.
So really, the goal isn't to walk into a room and think, you know, I'm the best person in here.
I'm so confident.
I feel great.
The goal is to walk into a room and think, you know, I'm doing well, but I have a lot to learn.
And perhaps I have something to learn from every other person that's in this room.
That's a great attitude.
And when you own that feeling and you know that you have things to learn and develop, you will benefit from it.
OK, so let's take a look at our comprehension questions today.
If you've been listening to the last few episodes, you'll know that we have a new section of the podcast where I ask you questions about today's episode and i want you to pause after i ask the question and try to answer, and then i will read you directly after the answer.
Question one why is imposter syndrome considered a high achiever tax?
It's considered a high achiever tax, or something for high achievers, because it only happens when you care about your performance and you're pushing yourself into more high stakes situations or challenging environments.
Question two, what is intellectual humility?
Intellectual humility is the recognition that you don't know everything, and that allows you to be a better listener and a better learner as a result.
Question three does confidence come before or after action?
It comes after.
Confidence is a side effect and a result of taking action.
We develop confidence from experience.
Question four how can you help having that feeling or help fight having that feeling of being an imposter or a fraud?
You can prepare yourself.
And you can also recognize that you can't prepare for everything and that you're always not going to know some things, but instead take the attitude that you're there to learn.
So that's it for today, folks.
Thank you very much for listening to this podcast.
And the next time that you feel like you don't belong in a place or in a room, remember you're there because you've earned it.
You're there because you're learning and you're there because you're good enough.
I'm Oliver and this has been the Easy English Podcast.
Make sure you're following and subscribed for next week's episode.
And make sure that you answer today's listener spotlight question.
Have you ever had imposter syndrome?
If so, when and why?
I will see you in the next episode of the Easy English Podcast.
Goodbye.
