How to Cultivate Confidence with Roxie Nafousi

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photo credit roxie nafousi

MIND

How To Cultivate Confidence With Roxie Nafousi

In her latest book, Confidence: 8 Steps to Knowing Your Worth, Roxie Nafousi assures us it isn’t a filter or a façade — it’s messy, human, and entirely self-made. Roxie shows us how to ditch the scripts, stop shrinking, and build real, gut-level confidence with curiosity, compassion, and a little bit of grit.

BY HARRIET ISHBEL SWEENEY / 03 APRIL 2025

Photo Credit Roxie Nafousi

Confidence. It’s one of those elusive qualities that can look effortless on others but feel slippery in our own hands. We admire it. Aspire to it. And yet, many of us quietly wonder if we’re missing something fundamental. Is it a trait you’re born with? A side effect of success? A magical personality type reserved for people who thrive under pressure and never overthink their text messages?

Roxie Nafousi doesn’t think so. In fact, she’s made it her mission to prove otherwise.

Best known as the author of Manifest, Roxie’s latest book – Confidence: 8 Steps to Knowing Your Worth – isn’t just a guide to speaking up in meetings or walking into a room like you own it. It’s about building a deep, grounded sense of self-worth. The kind of confidence that doesn’t crack under pressure, doesn’t seek constant approval, and doesn’t disappear the second life wobbles.

We sat down with Roxie to unpick what confidence really is, how we can all build it (yes, even the overthinkers), and why it’s time we stopped outsourcing our sense of worth and started rewriting the story from within.

“confidence, to me, isn’t something you just ‘have’ or ‘don’t have.”

Forget the power poses and motivational mantras. Real confidence, Roxie says, has nothing to do with being extroverted, outspoken, or endlessly self-assured.

This isn’t just fluffy self-help talk – it’s a radical shift in perspective. Because when we believe confidence is a personality trait, we hold ourselves hostage to fixed identities. But when we realise it’s a skill we can develop? That’s where the transformation begins.

Confidence, Roxie says, is about self-trust. It’s the quiet voice that says, I’ll handle it, even when you don’t know exactly how. It’s built through action, through choosing to show up even when you feel unsure. And crucially – it doesn’t require perfection to begin.

“it’s not about being the loudest in the room or having everything figured out.”

We live in a world that celebrates confidence as a performance: polished exteriors, articulate opinions, unwavering certainty. But Roxie’s approach is more human – and more sustainable.

Photo Credit Roxie Nafousi

“true confidence comes from within – not from how you look or what you do.”

It’s not about collecting accolades, approval or external markers of success. It’s about tuning into the internal markers: your kindness, creativity, resilience, thoughtfulness. The traits that don’t always get applause – but quietly shape how you show up in the world.

When you begin to value yourself for who you are rather than what you achieve, the confidence you build becomes unshakeable. It’s no longer tied to how productive you’ve been, how many people replied to your story, or whether today felt like a ‘main character’ day.

It’s yours. Independent of performance.

Of course, building confidence doesn’t mean eliminating self-doubt entirely. “We all have an inner critic,” Roxie says, “but we don’t have to accept what it says.”

“ask yourself: ‘is this thought true? is it helpful?”

This is a tool she shares in Step 1: Master Your Thoughts. When that voice creeps in—You’re not good enough. You’re going to mess this up. You’re not ready – your job isn’t to argue with it endlessly. It’s to pause. Observe. And ask whether this thought is moving you forward, or keeping you stuck in a place you’ve outgrown.

Confidence isn’t about having no doubts. It’s about having new conversations with them.

You could be having a good day, then see someone’s announcement, holiday, promotion—or perfectly unbothered face – and suddenly you’re questioning your entire existence. Sound familiar?

In Step 4: Break Free from Comparison, Roxie explains why this spiral happens – and how to interrupt it.

“comparison keeps us in a feeling of lack and scarcity.”

In other words: it’s not you. It’s your tender spot. The goal isn’t to banish comparison completely (we’re human), but to catch yourself before it takes root. “Shift your focus to what you do have,” she says. “Practice gratitude. Celebrate your wins. Reflect on your own growth.”

Someone else’s path isn’t stealing your light. It just means there’s more than one way to shine.

Roxie’s background in manifestation work comes through powerfully in her confidence philosophy. For those working toward big goals, visualising the next chapter, or trying to call in the life they truly want – confidence is key.

Photo Credit Roxie Nafousi

“you manifest what you believe you’re worthy of.”

You can’t manifest a new job, relationship or opportunity if deep down you’re still questioning whether you deserve it. Confidence is what fuels the action, the trust, and the ability to stay open to possibility. It’s the bridge between the vision and the reality.

And according to Roxie, you don’t need to feel 100% certain in order to start. You just need to feel available – to possibility, to growth, to self-belief. Even 1% belief is enough to begin.

So many of us hesitate to own our confidence for fear we’ll seem full of ourselves. But Roxie says we’ve confused confidence with ego for too long.

In Step 6: Celebrate Yourself, she encourages us to examine the stories we’ve been told about being ‘too much’. “Confidence doesn’t mean putting others down or pretending to have all the answers. It means standing in your light, without diminishing someone else’s.”

Taking up space doesn’t mean taking it away from others. And celebrating yourself doesn’t mean you think you’re better. It means you finally believe you’re enough.

“confidence isn’t arrogance. it’s power without ego.”

You don’t need to wake up tomorrow brimming with self-belief. If you’re stuck in self-doubt, Roxie suggests starting small—and going gently.

“start small. confidence grows from there.”

That could look like acknowledging one thing you did well today. Reframing a thought. Celebrating a moment of growth no one else saw. The more you act like someone who trusts themselves, the more your brain starts to believe it.

Momentum matters more than size. The tiniest win is still proof that you’re moving forward.

DANDY DEVOTION...

CONFIDENCE: 8 STEPS TO KNOWING YOUR WORTH

Roxie Nafousi

£16.99

MANIFEST The Daily Journal

The Head Plan x Roxie Nafousi

£25.00

AFFIRMATIONS

The Head Plan x Roxie Nafousi

£20.00

Confidence is not a performance. It’s not for the chosen few. It’s not even about being sure of yourself all the time. It’s a practice. A quiet, deliberate choice to stop letting self-doubt drive the narrative.

With Confidence: 8 Steps to Knowing Your Worth, Roxie Nafousi has given us a map – not just for feeling more powerful, but for becoming more at home in ourselves. It’s not about becoming someone else. It’s about returning to who you were before the world told you to be smaller.

So next time you hear that voice saying you’re not ready, try responding with a whisper of your own:

Watch me.

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