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1. Believe in yourself. Believe
that you can quit. Think about some of the most difficult
things you have done in your life and realize that you have
the guts and determination to quit smoking. It's up to you.
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2. After reading this list, sit
down and write your own list, customized to your personality
and way of doing things. Create you own plan for quitting.
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3. Write down why you want to quit
(the benefits of quitting): live longer, feel better, for your
family, save money, smell better, find a mate more easily,
etc. You know what's bad about smoking and you know what
you'll get by quitting. Put it on paper and read it daily.
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4. Ask your family and friends to
support your decision to quit. Ask them to be completely
supportive and non-judgmental. Let them know ahead of time
that you will probably be irritable and even irrational while
you withdraw from your smoking habit.
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5. Set a quit date. Decide what
day you will extinguish your cigarettes forever. Write it
down. Plan for it. Prepare your mind for the "first day
of the rest of your life". You might even hold a small
ceremony when you smoke you last cigarette, or on the morning
of the quit date.
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6. Talk with your doctor about
quitting. Support and guidance from a physician is a proven
way to better your chances to quit.
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7. Begin an exercise program.
Exercise is simply incompatible with smoking. Exercise
relieves stress and helps your body recover from years of
damage from cigarettes. If necessary, start slow, with a short
walk once or twice per day. Build up to 30 to 40 minutes of
rigorous activity, 3 or 4 times per week. Consult your
physician before beginning any exercise program.
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8. Do some deep breathing each day
for 3 to 5 minutes. Breathe in through your nose very slowly,
hold the breath for a few seconds, and exhale very slowly
through your mouth. Try doing your breathing with your eyes
closed and go to step 9.
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9. Visualize your way to becoming
a non-smoker. While doing your deep breathing in step 8, you
can close your eyes and begin to imagine yourself as a
non-smoker. See yourself enjoying your exercise in step 7. See
yourself turning down a cigarette that someone offers you. See
yourself throwing all your cigarettes away, and winning a gold
medal for doing so. Develop your own creative visualizations.
Visualization works.
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10. Cut back on cigarettes
gradually (if you cut back gradually, be sure to set a quit
date on which you WILL quit). Ways to cut back gradually
include: plan how many cigarettes you will smoke each day
until your quit date, making the number you smoke smaller each
day; buy only one pack at a time; change brands so you don't
enjoy smoking as much; give your cigarettes to someone else,
so that you have to ask for them each time you want to smoke.
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Continued
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