Preparing To Quit Smoking
Answering Some Common Questions
Most smokers try to quit several times before they eventually succeed. One of the most important things you can do before giving up is to learn more about your habit and the areas of weakness that are exposed at each attempt you make.
The decision to quit smoking often comes from people taking stock of their lives; that’s why the New Year is such a popular time for quitting.
People quit for different reasons; some people are motivated by the financial cost of smoking, others want to give up for the sake of their children or other family members. Personal health is the number one reason people cite for giving up smoking.
Whatever your own reasons are, if they're going to motivate you to quit, you need to believe in them as 100% worthwhile goals. As well as thinking about why you want to quit, it may be worth spending some time thinking about what you'll miss.
Ask Yourself - Why Do I Want To Quit?
This could be done by taking a sheet of paper, and drawing a line down the center of it. On one side you write down all your positive reasons for quitting, on the other side you write the reasons for continuing to smoke.
When you look at the two lists of reasons for and against quitting smoking, think about the difference between what's important to you right now and what will be important to you in the future.
On average it can take around five attempts to successfully quit, although some people do succeed on their first attempt. For most people, giving up smoking is a learning process and each time you try to quit you discover more and more about the emotions and situations in which you are most likely to get caught in.
Anticipating Obstacles You May Encounter While Trying to Quit
There are likely to be obstacles and temptations to deal with on your journey to quitting, but they will be easier to negotiate if you’ve already anticipated what they may be.
To begin with you need to think about what the task of quitting is likely to comprise of. This includes:
- Quitting a drug which has a definite effect on the body
- Quitting a habit I’m used to and enjoy
- Quitting an activity I do with others
Can You Successfully Quit With Just Willpower?
Using willpower to stop smoking is unlikely to lead to a successful quit - why is this?
Well, basically, if you think you can’t quit because you don’t have enough will power, what you truly, subconsciously believe is that at this time you don’t have enough reason to stop.
This is a really important point for you to consider when planning your quit, if you have enough reason to stop smoking then you are much more likely to succeed.
The reason for failure for so many people is the fact that deep down they really don’t want to quit. To successfully quit you really have to want to do it, a trigger like seeing a friend or relative become ill from a smoking related illness or falling pregnant can be the motivator you need.
Is it Better to Cut Down Before I Try to Quit?
It is important to remember that there is no safe amount to smoke; even smoking just 1 or 2 cigarettes a day increases the risk of developing some types of cancer, and also lung and heart disease.
Realistically stopping completely is the wiser option of the two. For heavy smokers, cutting down could be an important first step for them initially, but this is still only a poor second best. Stopping smoking really needs to be just that - stopping all cigarettes, forever.
As we have already seen you will only succeed in quitting smoking if you have really set your mind on it, and are 100% committed to stopping. Determination does have to play some part in your strategy.
Setting yourself a particular time and day to stop is usually the best course of action, although some people do successfully stop on the spur of the moment.
|