Following are some helpful tips that will help you quit smoking for good.
Quitting smoking is not the easiest of things; some scientists have even remarked that it is more addictive than heroin.
And this of course, highlights how hard it can be to stay committed to the cause and to remain on path of being the much sought after non smoker.
Hopefully the following helpful tips to quit smoking will be of benefit to you so you either quit or you stay committed to the healthy path of being a non smoker.
Planning Your Quit Smoking Target Date
There has been a few studies that suggest that people are more likely to quit successfully if they plan ahead and quit on a Monday – the start of the week.
For some reason, people like the notion of being able to start a week afresh. This also perhaps highlights why people attempt to quit on New Year’s Day as it is a new year. What’s important is that you do pick a date, preferably a Monday, and start to brainstorm and plan ahead for this day and beyond.
- What will you be doing on that Monday to make it easier to stop?
- Will you avoid social occasions in that first week or will you use those occasions to desensitize yourself from smoking and being social?
- How will you reward yourself in that first week?
Boost Your Morale
Rewarding yourself is of high importance.
Sometimes quitting smoking can be so “painful” that you’ll need to boost your morale so that you remain committed to the cause. Getting a massage, or going out for dinner are some positive ways to feel better.
The withdrawal process can sometimes throw up all sorts of conditions, from headaches, to nausea. The more time you spend working on feeling good will limit the impact of this natural detoxifying period that starts just after quitting.
Anti-Smoking Aids
Go see your doctor to make sure there is no antismoking medication that you can take that can help the process. There are several drugs on the market today that have been designed to help a person quit smoking – to reduce the power of the cravings so that quitting can be done with more ease. For those who are weary of pharmaceutical side effects, there are stop smoking herbs that have no known side effects.
Leading up to your quitting day, have your cars and house deodorized and you can begin the process of cutting down by not smoking in these areas.
You’ll enjoy the fresh smelling car and cigarette smell free house and this will create a barrier between you and smoking in these areas as you won’t want to muck up the nice smell that now exists.
Addiction Psychology
Understand that every former smoker is just one puff away from becoming a packet a day smoker once more. A non smoker cannot have one more puff, EVER. Knowing this and understanding this will give you a greater ability to say no to cigarettes now and in the future.
With that said, avoid using certain words and meanings to avoid putting too much pressure on yourself. Avoid such internal dialogue that includes “forever”.
It is much harder to quit smoking “forever” than it is to quit smoking “for this year.” Make your emotional environment more manageable by setting realistic goals that give you a greater chance of long term success.
If you need to stop smoking by saying “this week is my perfect week – I’m not going to eat junk nor smoke for this perfect week” – All the better.
Additional Quit Support
Learn a craving busting technique such as deep breathing. Deep breathing and or self hypnosis can release and or reduce stress making it easier to last through the cravings.
Avoid coffee and tea and other forms of caffeine products. There are some studies which suggest that caffeine increases the propensity of cravings.
Further to that, most smokers have a coffee and a cigarette together, if you stop doing one, but continue the other, it’ll be clear to some part of your system that something is wrong and will yearn and send signals for a cigarette (or in short, drinking coffee=increased cravings).
Hold Consciously the Stop Smoking Benefits
Write down all the benefits you’ll receive by being a non smoker and carry a list of these benefits around with you in your wallet or purse.
Anytime you get a craving or feel a need to smoke, you can simply read the list and you’ll feel a lot better instantaneously knowing you’re on the path!
I hope this little tip sheet has been of some benefit to you. Best of Luck!
Paul Brickhill
Clinical Hypnotherapist
Hypnosis to Quit Smoking
Hypnotherapy Melbourne, Australia
I admit, I smoked so much lately. It’s really hard to quit, so hard. But I never come up with an idea that I was blaming someone because of this addiction. It’s not anybody that makes me smoke but the stress of the situation. Things are getting a little easier so I’ll just have to wait until the time is right and realize that I’m not ready now.
I think my biggest problem is that I really did enjoy smoking. I didn’t resent it. I refused to quit because it was too expensive to continue, a pride thing that seems so dumb now, and I was determined not to let my health get in the way of my smoking. It wasn’t until my daughter reminded me I was killing myself slowly in front of my grandchildren that I had to take stock and make the decision to quit. Once I had my motivation in place the rest of it was a lot easier to cope with.
Really enjoyed reading your blog post
I too was a heavy smoker in my early teens ( 15 ) but was able to give it up. This was over 25 years ago
I would like to share some words of wisdom to your readers who may need some help in giving up smoking
My first tip is to always remember to celebrate your successes along the way. Quitting smoking is the big deal, do not trivialize it.
Be specific with your family and friends about the type of help or support that you want from them. Do not allow them to cause you to make a decision that you are not fully comfortable with. The symptoms of grumpiness and personality changes usually do not dissipate completely until after the first two weeks. Make sure that you make your family and friends fully aware of what they may experience as you withdraw from nicotine and tobacco. Stay busy and active during this process. If you are able to go to the movies, go to public places where smoking is normally not allowed, involve yourself in activities that require fine motor skills such as gardening, knitting or quilting as well as connecting with friends and family you’ll be more likely to stave off feelings of boredom and increase the likelihood of success. Hope this helps.
The best ways to quit are to decide in the head that you really want to quit and not make this quitting as some “excursion trip” or something. Be serious about it. The only planning it takes is to have the will to do a “Cold Turkey” and then stand by it, with out nicotine substitutes. It isn’t fair to replace one thing with another. You should drink a lot of water, and avoid sweet stuff, and plan it for weekends because when you start it you could feel sleepy and could nap if needed. Nothing else really works. I smoked for 27 years and have been without a puff for 4 months today. So be motivated and just go the “Cold Turkey” way. I preferred weekends to start.