subject: Smoking Cessation - What You Must Do to Be Successful [print this page] Author: Rob Hawkins Author: Rob Hawkins
*** Do Not Quit Smoking! Click Here *** Smoking Cessation is no easy task. Anyone that has tried it can attest to that fact. There are many barriers to successful quitting and all of them seem to rear their ugly heads during smoking cessation. Here are 3 things you must do to increase your chances of success: - List out Your Reasons for Quitting: Each decision to quit is very personal in nature. Every one of us has a different reason. Whatever your reason, you should clearly write it down on a piece of paper. I know it sounds weird and touchy feely. But the truth is that this technique works. When you write something down, it cements and reinforces the idea in your mind. This is an intangible that has been proven to work study after study. So what are some of the reasons for smoking cessation? You can be motivated by the fact that you want to be around for your small kids for a long time. You can be driven by purely financial reasons. If you factor one pack of cigarettes per day at $6.00, that adds up to $2190 a year. This is as good as any other reason to make the decision. You may be worried about cancer, COPD...... If you are really serious, then you should be able to find at least 2 compelling reasons that you really believe in and write them down. - Be Ready For the Cravings: As soon as you decide to stop, you will start feeling cravings for a cigarette. If you are ready to deal with them, your chances of success will increase dramatically. This is one of the biggest obstacles in smoking cessation. You will experience moments of weakness that will try to drive you back to cigarettes. You will start telling yourself that smoking "just one cigarette" will not hurt you, or that you "just need one" to take the edge off. You will try to rationalize by thinking that you have already cut down significantly and that you are already better off than you were before. These are all very normal thoughts, and most people that have tried to quit report having these thoughts. Unfortunately, many of them will also say that they caved in to those same thoughts. You have to combat these negative rationalizations. Smoking cessation attempts will be plagued by cravings. Know that these cravings only last a few minutes. If you can make it a few minutes, they should pass. Remember, "Just one more" is a sure way to return to full-time smoking. - Stay Focused on your smoking cessation: Make it a point to always remember why you wanted to quit in the first place. Remember that piece of paper that we talked about earlier? Pull it out when you feel a craving coming on. Read it in the morning and at night before going to bed to reinforce your decision for smoking cessation. What is more important is to take it one day at a time. If you see this as a "forever" endeavor, you will probably fail. On the other hand, if you decide to measure your progress day by day, you will find that you increase your chances at success. Continuous small victories will fuel your determination and desire. Applying these 3 tips will not guarantee success. What it will do, is to greatly increase your chances at smoking cessation. Get ready for it, be prepared and you will find this incredibly difficult task to be a little more manageable. Of course, you have to really want it. Your success depends on your total commitment and desire to become a nonsmoker once and for all.About the Author:
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