The Secret to Quitting Smoking – Developing a Killer Plan
This article will explain several specific techniques to help you succeed in quitting smoking. After trying and failing to quit smoking so many times, I was finally able to approach the problem in the right way and was able to quit successfully. The information that follows is directly from real-life experience with quitting.
Snap Decisions to Quit Almost Always Fail
I decided to quit smoking many times before I made it stick. Those snap decisions to quit always failed for me, and I can look back and easily see why: a lack of planning. Because quitting smoking is so difficult, making the decision on a whim, with no planning involved, is almost always going to set you up for failure. Getting through the initial withdrawal symptoms during the first week was particularly difficult for me–that was when I always threw in the towel and picked up another cigarette. People who have never tried to quit before are typically overwhelmed with the severity of those withdrawal symptoms, and not having a plan and specific strategies to deal with them is a recipe for failure.
Even Planned Quit Attempts Almost Always Fail
If you’ve ever picked up a “quit kit,” or read other literature about quitting smoking, then you know that there is almost always an emphasis on planning. I read all of these guides myself, but they never helped me to quit smoking. The reason for this is that they lacked the specific strategies and techniques that finally allowed me to overcome those horrible withdrawal symptoms. Most people who develop a plan for quitting use a single strategy, such as “I’m going to wear the Nicotine Patch.” Or a potential quitter might say “I’m going to cut down every day for a week and then quit on the weekend.” These are feeble plans that almost never work. In order to develop a quitting strategy that works, you need to develop a comprehensive strategy that can overcome both the psychological addiction, as well as tackle the physical cravings.
The Mental Hurdle that Keeps You Hooked: Smoking Enjoyment
The number one excuse that people give as to why they haven’t quit smoking yet: they say that they enjoy smoking cigarettes. This little mental hiccup kept me smoking for several years. Stop and realize right now that people do not enjoy smoking–what they enjoy is avoiding the onset of withdrawal symptoms. It brings them great relief (and “enjoyment”) when they light up a cigarette because they are comforted by the fact that they have once again avoided the onset of those nasty withdrawal symptoms. This is the source of their enjoyment.
Think about it. How many times each day do you get a real head rush from smoking cigarettes? Once or twice? Is that 5 seconds of pathetic little “buzz” really all that enjoyable?
Now think about this: say you are in a situation where you can’t smoke for several hours. Pretty uncomfortable, right? That first cigarette you get to smoke after going through that is pretty good, right? This should prove to you what you really “enjoy” about smoking: it’s a Nicotine injection. You are feeding your body what it is physically craving. When we smoke, we are just like zombies, going from one Nicotine feeding to the next. Cigarette after cigarette. Day after day. Until we die.
Here is another thing to think about: Let’s say you are stuck somewhere and you’re waiting for a ride to pick you up. You are bored. Notice that you smoke more when you are bored. Why is this? The reason is because have become hyper-aware of the upcoming Nicotine withdrawal. You might have just put a cigarette out 20 minutes ago. But because you are bored, you become conscious of the fact that you are going to start feeling nervous in a little bit. So you light up another smoke in order to keep your body well fed with plenty of Nicotine. Just topping off the tank so that you can avoid that withdrawal. Sound like enjoyment to you?
We fool ourselves by saying that we enjoy the taste of cigarettes, or that we enjoy watching the smoke, or that we enjoy the rituals involved with cigarettes. It’s all just a big show in order to maintain a physical addiction to Nicotine. Stop playing these mental tricks on yourself and see cigarettes for what they really are: Nicotine delivery devices. You don’t enjoy smoking; you’re physically addicted to Nicotine. Get it straight in your mind, and honestly assess your addiction for what it is.
Specific Techniques to Get You Through That First Week of Discomfort
All of my previous attempts at quitting smoking always ended within the first week. I could not make it through the initial withdrawals. Each time I failed to quit, I learned a bit more about what it would take for me to be successful. Eventually I started piecing together a long term strategy that would allow me to use every resource and available opportunity for me to have a successful quit. How did I do this? I did it by noticing what was working in my previous quit attempts and what wasn’t working. Then I developed a strategy from there. For example, I tried to quit smoking once when I was in the middle of a family vacation at a theme park. I actually made it 4 days in a row without smoking, due to the incredible power of distraction. The day was so filled up and consumed with activity and distraction that I was able to make it through without smoking. (Granted, I returned to smoking shortly thereafter, but I did learn something from it that allowed me to quit smoking for good eventually). So part of developing a killer quitting strategy is planning for distractions during the first week.
Another specific technique I used when I successfully quit was a reward strategy. I saved up a significant chunk of money over several months (about $1200 dollars actually) that I set aside for no other purpose than to be reward money for a successful quit. My plan was to reward myself by allowing myself to splurge on whatever I wanted if I achieved 30 days off of cigarettes. This strategy worked perfectly for me, and actually made quitting smoking fun and exciting at the same time. And please don’t say that you cannot afford this type of strategy. That is utter nonsense, considering how much money it costs you each year to continue smoking. Just the cost of the cigarettes alone is likely to be several thousand dollars, and there are other hidden costs associated with smoking as well (stains, smelly clothing, medical bills, sick time, etc.). So don’t think for a second that you cannot afford to reward yourself. Smoking is costing you thousands of dollars each year.
