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While the number of ex-smokers continues to grow, there are still tens of millions of smokers in the U.S. alone. You've probably read or heard tons of stop smoking advice over the years, but nonetheless, you're still smoking. Most people fail to quit smoking many times before they finally succeed.
The psychological impact of failed attempts can be construed in two ways, depending on your general mindset and attitude. Some people view the failed attempts in the glass-half-full, or positive perspective. I quit for two days. I just have to keep on trying. Others, with the glass-half-empty, or negative perspective, take the Eeyore attitude. Oh, what's the use? I'll never succeed. This simple bit of insight is stop smoking advice you can use today, right now. Did you learn to drive in a day? Try, try again is the key to manipulating your own mindset.
In the same vein, you need to understand the psychological games every smoker plays. Most of the available stop smoking advice tends to focus on the negative effects of smoking, such as lung cancer, emphysema and all the other horrible consequences of your bad habit. It's really not constructive to try to scare yourself into quitting. You already know the bad news, yet your crafty little mind can always find an excuse to pick up a cigarette. You had a fight with your beloved. A bad hair day. You gained a pound. It's essential that you know what's motivating you to quit.
Guilt is usually inadequate motivation. Most stop smoking advice pieces try to point out all the negatives, forcing guilt and even shame down your throat. It's enough to make you want a smoke! In fact, the current restrictions on smoking in just about every public place " or in the case of some state laws, even in your own vehicle " tends to arouse rebellion in certain personalities. Give close attention and apply a thoughtful analysis to determine just why you want to quit. Not why you should, but why you desire to do so. Make a list. Make several photocopies and post them at home and keep a copy in your desk drawer at work.
When nicotine patches and gum first came out, I thought it was a marvelous invention. Trouble was, they never worked for me. Although I smoked about a pack and a half a day, even the lowest dose of patch made my body feel as though I'd smoked a pack in the last hour. I felt like I was being poisoned. Patches and gum were the best stop smoking advice my doctor had to offer. It didn't work.
Oddly enough, what did work was switching to 'natural' tobacco, which contains no chemical additives. Here I was, smoking additive free tobacco, but still feeling the familiar withdrawal symptoms, for the usual three days. I gradually cut down and finally quit. I suspect that nicotine is not a particularly addictive substance. The additives are.
Here's one bit of stop smoking advice I'd like to pass on to you, as it was very effective for me. When your quitting day comes, be sure to leave an emergency supply of even a few cigarettes with you. This flies in the face of conventional wisdom in most stop smoking advice information, which sternly directs you to ceremonially throw out all your smokes as a ritualistic sign of your new power over your habit.
This approach can actually make quitting harder. There's a mini mart open 24/7. You tend to obsess over the fact that you have no smokes, making it annoyingly simple to get in the car and just go buy a pack. Don't throw out your smokes. Wrap the pack in a piece of paper, tape it shut, put a rubber band around it and tie a string around the whole thing. Knot it. When you're dying for a smoke, what you have to do to get at the desired cigarette requires a whole lot of time and trouble. You get time to go over your list of motivations and think about the consequences of giving in to your desire. I never did open the pack.
This is the best stop smoking advice this ex-smoker has to offer. I smoked for many years and was an absolute devotee to this costly addiction. If I managed to succeed, believe me, you can too!
The psychological impact of failed attempts can be construed in two ways, depending on your general mindset and attitude. Some people view the failed attempts in the glass-half-full, or positive perspective. I quit for two days. I just have to keep on trying. Others, with the glass-half-empty, or negative perspective, take the Eeyore attitude. Oh, what's the use? I'll never succeed. This simple bit of insight is stop smoking advice you can use today, right now. Did you learn to drive in a day? Try, try again is the key to manipulating your own mindset.
In the same vein, you need to understand the psychological games every smoker plays. Most of the available stop smoking advice tends to focus on the negative effects of smoking, such as lung cancer, emphysema and all the other horrible consequences of your bad habit. It's really not constructive to try to scare yourself into quitting. You already know the bad news, yet your crafty little mind can always find an excuse to pick up a cigarette. You had a fight with your beloved. A bad hair day. You gained a pound. It's essential that you know what's motivating you to quit.
Guilt is usually inadequate motivation. Most stop smoking advice pieces try to point out all the negatives, forcing guilt and even shame down your throat. It's enough to make you want a smoke! In fact, the current restrictions on smoking in just about every public place " or in the case of some state laws, even in your own vehicle " tends to arouse rebellion in certain personalities. Give close attention and apply a thoughtful analysis to determine just why you want to quit. Not why you should, but why you desire to do so. Make a list. Make several photocopies and post them at home and keep a copy in your desk drawer at work.
When nicotine patches and gum first came out, I thought it was a marvelous invention. Trouble was, they never worked for me. Although I smoked about a pack and a half a day, even the lowest dose of patch made my body feel as though I'd smoked a pack in the last hour. I felt like I was being poisoned. Patches and gum were the best stop smoking advice my doctor had to offer. It didn't work.
Oddly enough, what did work was switching to 'natural' tobacco, which contains no chemical additives. Here I was, smoking additive free tobacco, but still feeling the familiar withdrawal symptoms, for the usual three days. I gradually cut down and finally quit. I suspect that nicotine is not a particularly addictive substance. The additives are.
Here's one bit of stop smoking advice I'd like to pass on to you, as it was very effective for me. When your quitting day comes, be sure to leave an emergency supply of even a few cigarettes with you. This flies in the face of conventional wisdom in most stop smoking advice information, which sternly directs you to ceremonially throw out all your smokes as a ritualistic sign of your new power over your habit.
This approach can actually make quitting harder. There's a mini mart open 24/7. You tend to obsess over the fact that you have no smokes, making it annoyingly simple to get in the car and just go buy a pack. Don't throw out your smokes. Wrap the pack in a piece of paper, tape it shut, put a rubber band around it and tie a string around the whole thing. Knot it. When you're dying for a smoke, what you have to do to get at the desired cigarette requires a whole lot of time and trouble. You get time to go over your list of motivations and think about the consequences of giving in to your desire. I never did open the pack.
This is the best stop smoking advice this ex-smoker has to offer. I smoked for many years and was an absolute devotee to this costly addiction. If I managed to succeed, believe me, you can too!
About the Author:
Charlie Reese enjoys giving health and astrology advice on his astrology signs website weekly.
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