It does not matter if you have been smoking for a long time or just a little while, it will prove to be very difficult to quit. I have myself tried a number of times and on each occasion I have always started back for one reason or another. I hate that I can’t seem to stop smoking. Sometimes I wish someone would just take the time to come babysit me day after day to make sure I don’t light up. I am going to try to write up as much information as I can about quitting to serve as a guide and reminder to myself so I can know what I need to do to make it work this time.

Cigarettes are addictive, and even if you know how bad it is for you, it still takes quite a bit of desire and determination to quit and stay quit. You will also need to take some time to prepare, so you can make sure you are mentally ready to give up smoking. Don’t have the mindset that you will fail. If you have a mind set that you will fail, then you most likely will. You will need to keep telling yourself that you can make it through. Did you know the typical craving for a cigarette only lasts 3 minutes. So if you get a craving, set a timer and when that 3 minutes has passed congratulate yourself! If you take the time to make sure you are prepared in advance, it will make a difference in how successful you are when you attempt to quit.

If you know what to expect and how to handle situations that come up that will hinder your success when you attempt to stop smoking, it will be easier for you to stick with a method. Read them over and consider all your options and what you think would work best for you before you decide to live smoke free.

What are your reasons for wanting to stop smoking? Ask yourself this and write it down, make a list. If you are stopping because someone else is telling you to, then you are doomed to fail. You have to want to do this for yourself. Smoking is a personal decision to make, and so is stopping. You will have a hard time being motivated if you really do not want to quit yet. Like a lot of other people, my reason for wanting to stop is for my children. I want to be around for them later in life. Since I’m spending all this time taking care of them, I think it is only fair that I be around long enough for them to take care of me!

What reasons do you have for wanting to smoke? Do you enjoy the flavor, does it help you relax? Everyone has their own personal reasons why they want to keep on smoking. What are your reasons? For most people it is associated with relaxation. Its a break from the norm which becomes the norm. A little bit of “me” time. What we need to try to remember is that you can do this without a cigarette in your hand. So you can keep the same habit of where you go just leave the cancer stick behind.

Research and Learn. Educate yourself on line and see what smoking really is doing to you. Know how it will affect your health and the consequences are of you lighting up. If you know some of the gruesome details then you it can be a great motivational tool. I have found some pretty nasty things on line about what smoking can do to you, so having a visual aid of the nasty will help you. There are some counters you can download on line, and once installed they will pop up when you turn your computer on. A little box pops up and tells you how much money you have saved and how much of your life you have saved by not smoking.

Set realistic goals for yourself. If you set goals that you can not reach then you will just be setting yourself up for failure. Think about it, if it was a easy habit to break, then no one would have a problem quitting cigarettes. Since you know ahead of time that this will be a hard habit to break, you need to set goals that are not impossible for you to reach. My most recent attempt was cold turkey, which did well for 2 weeks, but just one little bout of stress I convinced myself that I “needed” to smoke to relieve the stress. So obviously cold turkey is not for me. So now I will be trying something else. I know I failed at that one try, but it doesn’t mean I cant do it!

With that said, don’t be discouraged if you do not succeed on your first try. This is very common, and most people can’t stop on the first try. This is why it is important for you to be serious about wanting to stop smoking. You may end up trying several different ways to quit before you find one that works for you. You just have to make sure you don’t get so discouraged that you give up on giving up. You will need to make some lifestyle changes to help with the temptation. It will be very hard to quit if everyone around you is still smoking. Go ahead now, before you quit, consider what you will do when these situations come up.

The more prepared you are, the easier it will be for you to stop. This will not be a task that you handle easily if you don’t prepare and start off the right way. You really can not just jump right in and expect it to work right away. Take the time and know what you will do before you start, and try to start on something that you think will work the best for you.

I’m trying to quit smoking and trying use writing my own resources to encourage me to stay on track. Follow me on my journey and see if I can make this work for me. Anyone trying to quit cigarettes can come together and see if any of this information helps!

Be prepared before you decide to quit smoking, then visit this site and arm yourself with information to help to quit cigarettes

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