Perhaps quitting smoking is like so much else in life - there are good and bad ways of going about it. For example, crossing a rod is easy, but only if you do it properly. If you try to cross a busy street drunk, at midnight, wearing black, walking on your hands, you turn something that ought to be easy into something that's guaranteed to be hard. As the quit smoking guru Allen Carr once wrote: 'There are some people who can make love standing up on a hammock, but that doesn't make it the easiest or best way'.
In my career as a quit smoking counsellor I have worked with over 10,000 smokers. Most of the successful ones follow the same pattern - they look for education, motivation and support, not gimmicks, pills, patches or potions. They also understand the following three essentials:
Isn't it interesting that a smoker can sleep through withdrawal for hours quite happily but within minutes of quitting can experience brutal 'nic fits'?! This strongly suggests that these physical 'withdrawal' symptoms (anxiety, panic, irritability etc.) have a mental or emotional, rather than a chemical, cause. This is further supported by the fact that people can experience 'withdrawal pangs' weeks or even months after becoming nicotine-free!
Unless a smoker has dealt with and eliminated the beliefs that create the desire to smoke, the quitter feels deprived when they stop. Wanting to smoke, but not being allowed to creates tremendous emotional conflict which in turn can create these unpleasant physical symptoms. That is why it is so important to address the beliefs we have about smoking before trying to quit.
Put out your final cigarette, and start to build your life around the things that really matter: friends, family, health, happiness and freedom! Look forward to your smoke-free life from day one. When you're not losing a friend, you're killing an enemy!
Perhaps quitting smoking is like so much else in life - there are good and bad ways of going about it. For example, crossing a rod is easy, but only if you do it properly. If you try to cross a busy street drunk, at midnight, wearing black, walking on your hands, you turn something that ought to be easy into something that's guaranteed to be hard. As the quit smoking guru Allen Carr once wrote: 'There are some people who can make love standing up on a hammock, but that doesn't make it the easiest or best way'.
In my career as a quit smoking counsellor I have worked with over 10,000 smokers. Most of the successful ones follow the same pattern - they look for education, motivation and support, not gimmicks, pills, patches or potions. They also understand the following three essentials:
Isn't it interesting that a smoker can sleep through withdrawal for hours quite happily but within minutes of quitting can experience brutal 'nic fits'?! This strongly suggests that these physical 'withdrawal' symptoms (anxiety, panic, irritability etc.) have a mental or emotional, rather than a chemical, cause. This is further supported by the fact that people can experience 'withdrawal pangs' weeks or even months after becoming nicotine-free!
Unless a smoker has dealt with and eliminated the beliefs that create the desire to smoke, the quitter feels deprived when they stop. Wanting to smoke, but not being allowed to creates tremendous emotional conflict which in turn can create these unpleasant physical symptoms. That is why it is so important to address the beliefs we have about smoking before trying to quit.
Put out your final cigarette, and start to build your life around the things that really matter: friends, family, health, happiness and freedom! Look forward to your smoke-free life from day one. When you're not losing a friend, you're killing an enemy!
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