There’s comes a time in every smokers life, that they contemplate quitting smoking. Each of us have many different reasons as to why we want to stop smoking, our health being the main one, as well as that ever persistent and lovely smoker’s cough. Whatever your reason may be, the facts are that we know we need to stop, we know what it does to us, and how it will eventually affect our lives. The hard part is setting the plan in motion to actually begin to quit.
Perhaps, due to the ever-increasing methods of quitting available nowadays, choosing one has become a more difficult task. The best recommendation I can make here is to analyze each for its pluses and minuses and try to choose one that goes with your current lifestyle. Just by doing a little homework first, finding the method that will be the most successful for you, becomes far easier.
This was very difficult for me, as I had absolutely no clue as to which product would work best for my situation. The first stop I made was to discuss this with my doctor asking which method had the highest success rate, and the least side effects.
We discussed many of the methods available and their side effects, but we also focused a lot of the conversation on the psychological part of quitting as well, since for most people, including myself, that would be the most difficult part of quitting smoking.
Preparing yourself mentally to quit smoking is not something that I even considered. I always assumed that to quit smoking, you did just that – quit! Maybe go on a wild emotionally charged fit for a week or so when nobody wants to be around you and that’s it, you’re done. I hadn’t even thought about the fact that quitting would necessitate lifelong lifestyle changes.
So after the conversation with the doctor and after choosing the treatment method I was comfortable with, she told me to pick a quit day a couple of weeks out and use the time in between to prepare for my new smoke-free lifestyle. In those two weeks it became evident how much my life revolved around smoking and how much I wished to be rid of the habit. So I began to take positive steps like smoking outside; throwing out my ashtrays; and even cleaning my carpets, bedding and curtains.
As I have told everybody looking for my advice on quitting smoking, it is one of the hardest things you will ever do in your life. But it is also one of the most rewarding. Start now. Get your game plan in place – and quit! Nothing will give you more satisfaction.
Looking for a method to stop smoking? Then be quick to check out Darren Warmuth’s article on how to get started quitting smoking
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