Quit Smoking Success Tips So you’ve decided to quit smoking. Congratulations, quitting smoking is probably the best thing you can do for your health and you’ll feel proud knowing that you’re able to kick this ugly habit. Be forewarned, it is not easy to quit smoking. Statistics show that it takes 9 times for the average smoker to actually quit. The secret is to not get down on yourself if you have a relapse. Learn WHY you weren’t able to stop and better prepare yourself the next time you quit. Look at your relapses as LEARNING EXPERIENCES and not failures. Most importantly do not stop trying! You CAN do it. When I quit smoking, I set a date and told everyone I knew. I think this helped me as I had to live up to my word and save face. A lot of people didn’t believe me, because I did fail in the past but it was an added incentive to prove to them all that I was strong enough to do it. One more thing I should mention is that you should prepare yourself to quit smoking. Gradually try to decrease the amount of cigarettes that you smoke. If you wake up during the night to puff, try to last through the night. If you have one first thing in the morning, try to wait a half an hour or an hour. It will be hard but you need to prepare for your cravings as your quit date arises. When you decide to quit smoking you need to be strong. Remember that even though cravings will arise throughout your whole life, they’ll get fewer and fewer as time passes. You’ll feel very uneasy the first couple of days. Be strong. It will get easier. I highly recommend that you mentally prepare for your quit date and continue to mentally prepare for future cravings with visualization even when you quit smoking. Know what your smoking triggers are and be ready. If you failed in the past, what made you cave in? Was it stress? Was it being around other smokers? Was it having a beer or a cup of coffee? To practice visualization, the first thing you want to do is relax. Find a comfortable place and breathe deeply and slowly into your belly. Try to make each breath slower than the previous one. Once you reach a state of relaxation, imagine a trigger that will prevent you from being able to quit smoking. For instance imagine a situation in which you are stressed. Imagine you being strong, fighting off the craving. The important thing is to stay relaxed. If you feel stressed, continue your breathing until you’re relaxed and try a little less hard of a situation. Once you master that situation, try a harder one. Finally practice affirmations whenever you can especially when you find yourself thinking badly. If you’re thinking “this is too hard, I’m not meant to be a non smoker” mentally repeat an affirmation. For instance, “I feel strong and powerful now that I’m able to fight my cigarette cravings” or “I love myself completely now that I am a non smoker.” With these techniques you WILL be able to quit smoking. Remember it is a process to quit smoking. If you have a relapse, you haven’t failed. You just learned where you need more practice the next time you quit smoking. Don’t give up, eventually you’ll kick this nasty habit and quit smoking for good!
John Karnish is the author of a <a href="http://letsquitsmoking.blogspot.com">quit smoking</a> blog. Visit his blog for more <a href"http://letsquitsmoking.blogspot.com">quit smoking</a> tips.
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