HOW TO BE UNSHAKEABLE
The Remarkable Story of Jolynn Swafford
Tell us about your successful journey and how you overcame your biggest obstacles in my life:
My success journey started the moment that I decided I was the author of my own story. But just as it is challenging to actually write a book — it is challenging rewriting your own story. After years of a wicked addiction to vodka where I drank 80% of the hours I was awake, I was hit bad news: my liver was failing, I was dying, I was slowly killing myself.
This was my moment, the big moment when I decided I was more important than my addiction. This was the moment I told myself, “I love you”. February 6, 2014 I stopped drinking and started my new life. My mentor, Tony Robbins teaches, “it is in the moment of decisions that you reshape your destiny”.
I had been an extremely successful business woman up to this point. I had reached the top of three different careers — consulting, healthcare management, and sales. But, even though I had everything going for me, I was still empty inside. Success without fulfillment is the ultimate failure.
The problem: I had an unspeakable trauma from my past that was still lying asleep inside of my soul.
When I was a freshman in high school, I snuck out of my house to go to a “cool kids” party. Within minutes of arriving, I was drugged and being raped over and over again by a group of teenage boys. I had completely suppressed this memory until I was 28 years old. I’m grateful for that. I’m grateful that my brain protected me that long. I’m grateful for the Oprah Winfrey Show episode I watched that day on the subject of date rape that triggered vivid memories of this incident in my mind.
Yet, my rise didn’t begin at this point. It was actually the start of my slow fall. By 2009, I was divorced, broke, jobless and even spent some time in jail. AND I STILL DIDN’T GET UP!
I believe that God sends us to the wilderness so that we can find ourselves.
Here are the key steps I took to getting out of the wilderness:
Gratitude: Expressing gratitude became my new addiction. I realized that as a victim it was easy to find the things wrong or scary around me. My brain was trained to do that in order to keep me safe. Gratitude was my antidote for fear and rewired my brain to start seeing the beauty around me.
Faith: I decided that I couldn’t rise on my own and started to embrace the idea that something bigger than me could help me. I found God in my darkest moment. Faith is fun. Faith is believing in the unseen. Faith in myself and in God guides me daily and I know that with God, everything is possible.
Accountability: I accepted 100% responsibility for all of my mistakes. I took a look back through my life and wrote down everything I did that caused my pain and the pain of others. This is a normal every day practice for me. We all make mistakes, we just need to own them and learn.
Lessons: The wilderness is about learning the lessons we are supposed to learn during our time on earth. The quicker you accept responsibility and learn the lesson; you won’t repeat the same mistakes. You start to break vicious cycles of self-sabotage and reveal the next step in your journey.
Surrender: Each day is an act of faith. Moment to moment, I surrender my physical body to a higher purpose. Most of our troubles in life are because we are running the wrong race! Stay in your lane and you’ll find peace and a greater sense of purpose.
Connecting with my body: Our bodies speak to us! All of our organs are connected and speak our stories. When you listen to your body, it will tell you if you are doing the right thing. When I feel pain in my heart, I know I am not honoring myself, when I feel pain in my liver, I know that I am storing feelings of anger. Listen to your body and the truth will reveal itself.
Action: Faith requires action. I have fun with my faith! I see it as a game and take massive action when a new idea comes to me. Don’t question yourself, go with it and have fun. The universe rewards those who take action. Remember that there is no such thing as a failure — life is an experiment.
What is some advice I would give young women who follow in my footsteps?
You are loved, you are accepted as you are.
I spent too much time in my life trying to get acceptance. Even going back to when I sneack out of my house to go to the “cool kids” party. Deep down, I knew it was a bad idea, but I was so excited that I was “accepted”. When you seek acceptance, you are appealing to the wrong kind of people. Seeking acceptance is the same as having feelings of unworthiness which is a lower or darker energetic vibration. Remember, that “like attracts like”, if you sending out low energy you attract low energy.
Comparison is the thief of joy. I love how my pastor and mentor Tim Story puts it: “You were born an original, don’t be a copy”.
Seeking acceptance
Being Ridiculed
Accepted responsiblity
BIOGRAPHY OF JOLYNN SWAFFORD
Jolynn is a wife and mom of four in a blended family. She is a seasoned corporate executive and consistent global top sales performer with over 25 years of experience in management, sales, marketing and consulting. Jolynn found success early in her career, quickly rising up the ranks in both title and money, but all of this left her unfulfilled and feeling disconnected from a true purpose. In 2014, she found herself drifting into a dark addiction to alcohol where she was drinking a bottle of vodka each day. In her recovery, she realized that not only was she addicted to alcohol, but she was also addicted to a past trauma and the feelings of self worth that came with it. These two things slowly became her identity and caused her to drift away from the big dreams she had for herself. It was then that she made the decision that she wanted to truly live and create a legacy. Jolynn truly experienced a journey of going from addicted to annointed, non-believer to believer, and from unworthy to royalty. This is what she defines as Supernatural Success. Now she combines her unrelenting faith with her business prowess to help others overcome limiting beliefs and build strategies to living a Supernatural Life. For more information, visit: http://www.jolynnswafford.com/
