It's easy to stop smoking!

It has been around 18 months since I gave up smoking and every time I meeta smoker they always ask how I did it. I have to say it took me threetimes before I eventually gave up for good.
There were lots of different factors that led me to even start thinking aboutgiving up; however the main one was my own health. Other reasons includedmy children, they kept telling me I was going to die and got quite distressedabout it; the smell in the house; the smell on my clothes; feeling like a leperwhen going outside to smoke. There are a million reasons to give up andonly one reason to continue and that is addiction.

I used to tell myself I could give up if I really wanted to but I didn’twant to. The truth is I did want to but felt it would be too hardand I didn’t want to fail, so it was easier to say I enjoyed it too much. Ienjoyed the supposed feeling it gave me after dinner, with a cup of tea, whilsthaving a drink etc. However when I realised it was me who was creatingthis feeling and not the cigarettes things started to change in my way of thinking.
I began telling myself it was easy to give up smoking and after about 2 monthsI gave up for good and haven’t looked back since. I worked on mybelief system about giving up smoking and convinced myself it was going tobe easy and when the time came it was easy.

My tips for giving up smoking would be:

• Give yourself compelling reasons to give up, don’t do it for otherpeople, and do it for yourself.
  
• Set a date about 2 months in advance of when you will give up and tellyourself every day you are going to give up on that day.
  
• Don’t try patches or gum with nicotine in it. Once youtold yourself for two months when you will give up just give up
  
• Tell yourself every day it is easy to give up smoking; your brain willreally start to believe it after a month or so.
  
• Tell your friends and family you will be giving up on ‘that date’,this gives you a little pressure and shows your friends and family you arecommitted.
  
• Break the old patterns of behaviour surrounding your smoking e.g. if yousmoked after your dinner at night, go for a walk instead or go clean thebathroom. Pretty soon your mind will get out of the old habit and startforming new habits.

It is easy to give up smoking, however we have been conditioned to believethe opposite is the case. Our mind will believe whatever we tell it tobelieve and adjust our physiology and cravings accordingly. When youtell yourself it is easy to give up smoking for two months, it will be veryeasy on the day to give up, you have to believe it.