How to overcome the habit of smoking
For many, quitting smoking is primarily one of the top items on their annual resolution list. Many people who struggle to kick the debilitating habit at some point in their lives lose hope of successfully kicking the habit. A smoker who has been smoking for decades may think that it is impossible to quit as the habit has become so ingrained in his life that it has become an inseparable part of his daily life.
As a former smoker, I know how you feel. I can’t separate my smoking habit from my psyche. It seems that habit has reprogrammed my mind to obey to smoke whenever the desire arises. For a smoker, he or she does not need an occasion to smoke a cigarette. You may be waiting in traffic, taking a walk, talking to someone, at work, with friends, etc. Every occasion is suitable for smoking. The mind and body are so well trained to pick up a cigarette and light it with such precision that the act is not even registered in the conscious mind. Everything happens automatically; thus, without her knowing it, she could have smoked dozens of cigarettes in hours.
In fact, smoking creates unpleasant illusions. Most smokers say that smoking helps clear their minds of worries or stress, inspires ideas, makes them think clearly, and many other reasons. I wonder how anyone can give a reason why cigarettes help them solve problems. How can anyone explain how so many discoveries, inventions, and great thoughts came about without smoking a cigarette? Do we need a magnifying glass to see that a smoker is a good problem solver, an inventor, a researcher, an administrator like a smoker? The only difference is that one thinks without smoking a cigarette and another firmly believes that smoking is the reason for his improved ability, if at all, to solve the problem in question, for example. Why is smoking such a strong habit that it can hamper the reasoning faculty of reasoning that cigarettes do not create a competitive advantage over others except to generate smoke, spew ash, and harm health?
In order to quit smoking, one must also firmly believe that they can live with their decision without smoking for at least long periods at a time. Also, it helps to identify a strong reason or motivation such as health, children, or family and friends. Take emotional support from your well-wishers and your nonsmoking wife or husband can be your indomitable support. Again it requires reprogramming one’s mind and reaffirming one’s mental strength and believing that one’s willpower is strong enough to keep the habit at bay and to conquer it completely. One must have faith and rest follows.
To quit smoking, it does not matter how long or how long you have been smoking. It takes a decision to call it a day. For anyone who wants to quit smoking, my advice is that even while smoking, get the idea that one day you will quit smoking and think about what your life would be like without smoking. Believe me; Such a thought in itself can provoke a strong protest from your mind. Keep pushing the idea every day to quit smoking completely, and reaffirm the decision every morning and night. Create strong images of your life as to what you look like when you are no longer smoking. Preparation can take weeks, if not months. For a smoker, it is almost impossible to imagine a day without a cigarette. However, with this exercise you have started a journey towards a smoke-free life. Nothing is impossible; with your willpower nothing can prevent you from achieving what you want.
In order to quit smoking, one must be very persistent in his journey towards a life without cigarettes. There would be disappointments along the way from having little willpower. It’s okay to fail many times. Keep pushing and consistently try to quit smoking for long periods of time and continue exercising to increase the period of smoke-free days. Increase the period gradually; from hours to days, from days to weeks, from weeks to months, from months to years. You have two benefits to this approach. One, you can quit for an indefinite period of time, and two, you have developed a strong willpower that will help you in other areas of life. However, smoking is a difficult habit to break! Fortunately, there are ways to kick the habit.
When I quit smoking for the first time after almost 10 years of smoking, I did not smoke again for 3 years! The second time, I started smoking for a couple of months and quit completely. The second time it was much easier to stop, like flipping a switch in my mind. Other than smoking, I did not use any nicotine patch, nor did I take advantage of any counseling or treatment. Once I decided to quit, I just quit! My mind protested and yearned and cried. I just stopped my years of deafness, after a while the desire just faded! You can quit smoking too, if you think so.