How to Stop Smoking Cigarettes
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Smoking is supposed to be one of the hardest habits to quit. Many try. Most fail. What makes the difference?
A technology now exists to analyze and model the steps that people have taken to quit smoking successfully. And it turns out that everyone who has managed quit smoking for good has followed a process of 5 steps. It doesn’t seem to matter what particular technique or stop smoking aid you use, either. Smokers who go through the five steps are usually able to quit smoking for good. Skip one of the steps and you will most likely fail. The particular quit smoking technique is almost irrelevant. If you want to know how to stop smoking cigarettes, these are the steps you must take.
- Deciding to quit
- Committing to quit
- Planning how to quit
- Rehearsing
- Appreciating progress
Let’s go through them in order.
Deciding to Quit
Most of us don’t have any problem with this step. The data is out there for everyone to see. Health benefits. Financial benefits. ‘Nuff said.
Committing to Quit
This is the step that many people don’t get past. A decision is not the same as a commitment. For most of us, decisions are open to circumstances and if those circumstances change we don’t feel much need to follow up on our decision.
A commitment is different in one important way: if circumstances seem to be against living up to your commitment, then you do something to change the circumstances. In other words, you would rather die than fail in what you have committed to.
Some people have never made a commitment in this sense. You have to discover the inner difference for yourself. How can you tell whether you are totally committed to something?
Planning How to Quit
This is where the particular quit smoking technique or stop smoking aid comes into play. You research and evaluate different pathways until you find one that makes sense to you. It may be weaning off with a Lifesign computer, taking Zyban or Champix, or quitting cold turkey. As long as you think it will help you quit smoking for good it probably will.
Find out all about how to use the product or technique and foresee how its use will fit into your life.
Rehearsing
This step is very important. Look at the situations where you would normally smoke and decide what you will do instead. Then create a fantasy or visualization of actually going through the experience. Make it as rich as possible. Try to hear what you would hear and feel what you would feel.
One powerful addition to this step is something called future-pacing. Create a picture of yourself as you will be six months from now after successfully quitting smoking. Embellish this picture so that you are having a conversation with a friend you haven’t seen for a long time. In this conversation, tell them what you did to quit successfully. Really get into this with all the sensory detail you can bring. Go over it again and again, adding to it each time you do. Eventually, this will become a memory of the future and your unconscious mind will begin to do whatever is necessary to make it real.
Appreciating Progress
This is the most commonly overlooked steps. There will be good days and bad days no matter what you do. Its vital that you celebrate your victories along the way, no matter how small they seem. Say something encouraging and uplifting to yourself whenever you succeed in the smallest way. Have a meeting with yourself when you go to bed at night to take stock of your progress. Cheer yourself on! Most of us are not our own best friends. That’s part of the reason why we smoke in the first place. Turn it around and start rooting for yourself.
Conclusion
In this short article I have laid out the five steps that everyone who learned how to stop smoking cigarettes has gone through. Hear they are once more in short form: deciding;committing;planning;rehearsing;appreciating.
Now, pick a method and stop smoking forever using these five steps.
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Tagged with: Addictions, Bupropion, Cigarette, Cold turkey, Health, how to stop smoking, Quitting, Smoking cessation, Substance Abuse, Tobacco, Varenicline
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