FinancialStory
I had smoked cigarettes almost every day for fourteen years. I had tried several times to simply quit to no avail. My situation was a little different than most too. I actually made it harder for me to quit smoking. I was writing a book entitled Willpower and I wanted to quit smoking cold turkey. I had to quit cold turkey without using any special drugs or patches. After all, writing a book on Willpower and using the patch was like doing an infomercial on to lose weightbut you got liposuction. I am happy to say that I am now a quitter.
I quit smoking and never looked back. One night I was sitting outside looking at the stars enjoying a cigarette. At that moment I decided that I was going to quit smoking and never return. That was indeed the last night I smoked a cigarette. How did I do it? I practiced quitting until I perfected the skill.
Advice
My story seems like it happened in one powerful night. Actually, it took me 5 years of practicing quitting before I was able to truly quit. I had stopped and started smoking several times within the previous 5 years leading up to when I quit for good. Looking back, it was obvious that while it appeared that I had failed each time I started smoking againI was actually learning how to improve at quitting. All my previous attempts at quitting smoking were practice sessions that paid off the last day I smoked. There is one simple key to quitting smoking. Practice what you reach!
Steps
1. Make up your mind to practice what you want to reach.
2. Set a specific day when you are going to quit.
3. If you start smoking again then that was a practice session. No harm, no foul.
4. Identify all the triggers which aided in your picking it back up.
5. Develop a plan of how you will avoid those triggers next time.
6. Be a spontaneous quitter. Use emotion to select the next time you will quit.
Additional Options
Practice Ideas: next time your quit volunteer at a cancer ward, prior to your official quit date begin changing the routine around your smoking habit
Replace one bad habit with a good habit: select something you can do in place of when you would normally smoke i.e. read a book
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Ask Will: Use the Ask Will advice option at the end of this blog for specific advice on how to practice quitting smoking or any other bad habit