How to Stop that Bad Habit. Quit Smoking

Today there is so much talk about smokers being addicted to nicotine. Don’t let all of that talk bother you, and certainly don’t let it be an excuse for failing. It is time to get your mind set to the idea that it is a habit, a bad habit, more than it is an addiction to nicotine. I was a one to two pack a day smoker for about 30 years, and it was these ideas that made quitting possible for me. Getting this mind set is actually your first step.

Get yourself psyched up to do this. Make sure you are prepared, and doing things as suggested below will help you be ready. You can start preparing a year before you actually give up the cigarettes, or maybe months, weeks or a week may even be enough for you. A lot of mental preparation will be key to your success. Make a list of all the negative things about smoking. From now until you do quit, constantly keep going over them in your mind, and keep reminding yourself that smoking is a bad habit. This was you second step.

Before you make any effort to quit, take a look at your smoking habits, and be honest with yourself. How many of the cigarettes that you smoke are simply out of habit? Do you light that cigarette as soon as you get up in the morning, right after you eat, while you are talking on the phone, while you are driving? For most smokers, the answer would be yes. These cigarettes and many others are simply lit out of habit without giving it a thought. So, with a couple important steps toward quitting already done, it is time to move forward.

1. Become aware of how many and when you are smoking. How many are just out of habit? How many could you give up today and not really miss? Take some time to really understand this. Smoking is a bad habit.
2. Change to a low tar and nicotine cigarettes, or to a different one if that is what you are presently smoking. You are changing another thing that is part of that bad habit.
3. If you are not going outside to smoke, start doing that now. Never smoke inside or in a vehicle again. No talking with someone there or on the phone, no reading, nothing else, just smoke. You are changing another part of that bad habit.
4. Start giving up some of the cigarettes that you are smoking each day. It won’t take you long to know which ones you really want or feel that you need, so start giving up the others that don’t seem to be so needed first. Give up one a day, two a day, one a week, whatever you are able to do comfortably. But really work at it!
5. Then when it is time to quit, just quit. You aren’t going to “try”, you are going to do it. Just give up those last cigarettes you are having each day and start calling yourself a non-smoker!