It is never easy to kick the butt. You may have made several attempts already and may now be almost convinced that you can never do without smoking.
The cigarette may feel like your companion during your lowly times and your stress reliever when you are overworked.
However, dear it is to you, it never is a wooer to your health. Your body hates it like you hate your foes. It cringes every time you light one.
It may be telling this to you in signs like frequent coughs and problem in breathing but are you listening to it?
If you want to quit smoking and need ways to bid it farewell, here are some mind tricks you can deploy to kick the butt.
1. Become a non-smoker rather than an ex-smoker
That’s the first thing to do when you think of quitting smoking. If you are doing it because someone has pressurized you into doing so, mind you, it won’t last. This will only make you pity yourself as an ex-smoker deprived of smoking. You can only really quit when you think of yourself as someone who is over it, someone who is himself confident of this decision and is solely driven by himself.
2. Try ‘Craving Surfing’
A concept by psychologists, craving surfing means buffering the crave. You sure will want to have a smoke, feel like you desperately need it but what then? Delay reacting for a mere 3 to 5 minutes and the urgency will fade away. This is realizing that cravings have the nature of waves. They come and go and if you let one pass, it is gone.
3. Get help
There would be times when the cravings would take the better of you. You may just feel like giving in to the urge and going out and buying a cigarette. You may even have one hidden somewhere in the drawer or your bag. Throw it away. Get support. Think about all the effort you have put into trying to quit already and it is only for your own good. If that doesn’t help, get support from your buddies, family or dial helpline number.
4. Avoid HALT
Expanded as ‘Hungry, Angry, Lonely or Tired’, these are situations which doctors refer to as vulnerable states of temperament. If you are feeling any of these emotions, you are more likely to give in to your temptation of smoking. Try to keep them at bay. Try to avoid situations which make you feel vulnerable to such emotions. Make sure you have circumstances that are conducive to helping you quit smoking.
5. Never believe in the ‘Only One’ fraud
“I will only have this one as my farewell to smoking.” This is an absolute lie you can tell yourself. You would sure like to believe that it is going to work out like this for you, but somewhere, deep inside, you would know that it will not. It never does. Don’t add up to the list of the times you told the same to yourself and failed, miserably. If you decide to quit, act on it right now.
6. Know that you may not be successful the first time
But that isn’t saying that you cannot be! If you are determined then you can only quit the first time you think of quitting. But on an average, a person may take several attempts before finally kicking the butt. If you were not successful the last three times, chances are you will finally be the fourth time. Never give up – that’s the thumb rule you never have to forget to quit smoking.
