Greetings to all readers. This step will help you get rid of bad habits: smokers to quit smoking, and I suggest that those who drink, do not drink for 30 days as an experiment. Why now, at this stage? Firstly, because for the following steps it would be better if you did not smoke or drink, as these steps will be associated with physical activity. Secondly, if you have completed all the previous steps of the self-development plan, then you have gained some useful skills in order to get rid of bad habits with less resistance and more desire. Now it should be easier.
Do not worry, I do not urge you to give up alcohol today and forever. In my case, the refusal of alcohol occurred by itself. Over time, I began to lose the desire to drink, the need to relax and to spend time in this way disappeared. I believe that getting rid of bad habits should occur, for the most part, in a natural way and be accompanied by a sincere inner interest in ceasing to poison yourself. Otherwise, you will return to these habits again and again.
But this does not mean that you should sit back and wait for you to get tired of drinking or smoking. You will still have to significantly limit yourself in the consumption of alcohol and work on yourself. This applies to alcohol, but here's smoking, during the execution of this step, will have to quit immediately and permanently. At least you need to try, if you do not succeed, you just go to the next step, and then come back to this.
I will try, as far as I can, to help you quit smoking, supporting you day after day and helping you get through nicotine breaking. Read this step, here will be given information on the first few days of withdrawing from cigarettes. For those who want to stop drinking, I’ll simply post here a list of tips that will help you cope with the addiction and offer to take part in the experiment: give up on 30 days of any alcohol. I see no reason to publish a step-by-step program for getting rid of alcohol addiction, since everyone has different cases, whereas, in general, the experience of throwing cigarettes may be similar.
Self-development and bad habits
Bad habits are not compatible with self-development. First, because they ruin health, and the balanced development of a person implies the improvement of the body. Smoking and the systematic use of alcohol are badly combined with sports, which are necessary for everyone.
Secondly, the use of alcohol and other drugs gradually destroys the brain. Healthy critical ability and a sober assessment of themselves and those around them disappear (and this often happens unnoticed by you), which also does not adequately meet the needs for personal development.
Thirdly, bad habits can contribute to the development of negative human qualities (many people know how the character of a very heavy drinker deteriorates). Smoking and alcohol provoke problems with the nervous system. In the end, bad habits are a destructive addiction or risk of occurrence. Lack of dependence is freedom and choice. Freedom, expressed in the ability to enjoy life without the need to obscure the brain and ruin health.
Fourthly, the use of drugs and alcohol, including, destroys, undermines a certain fragile spiritual balance. This is my observation. To clarify it, allow me a small digression. I have written more than once that meditation helped me to get rid of addictions, depression, problems with temper. Meditation is the basis of my system of self-development. Perhaps there are other ways of self-development that do not imply the practice of such spiritual discipline as meditation. But I can not teach you what I do not know myself. I can be confident in my words, only when I firmly stand on my own experience of positive metamorphosis. This experience includes meditation as an essential element.
The man who once advised me to meditate and, one might say, taught this technique, he, by his own example, created an incentive for my studies and dispelled my skepticism. The fact is that this person felt pretty good (which it was impossible to say about me at the time) and, for some time, stopped drinking altogether (which I also really wanted, but did not understand how to achieve). He said that he simply did not need it, so he does not drink.
Then I, accustomed to drink every day, do not understand how it may not be necessary? It seemed to me that everyone needs alcohol, just someone does not limit himself, and someone limits his price to his spiritual comfort. I could understand if someone did not drink for ideological reasons, but because of this, he suffered and “broke off”, while others did not miss the opportunity to enjoy the pleasant effect of alcohol. But it was completely incomprehensible to me how you can not drink alcohol and at the same time enjoy life, socializing, relaxing ...
But, after two years of practicing meditation, I managed to comprehend the mood of this person. My very need for alcohol and other sources of intoxication disappeared. When I meet with old friends about, for example, someone's birthday, they are very surprised that I stopped drinking. And they ask: “what are you doing, since you do not drink? how do you spend your free time? ”I don’t have any extra original hobbies and I spend my leisure time, as well as many: I ride a bike, watch movies, read books, walk, spend time with friends, etc. But the matter is not in the classes themselves, the fact is what is happening inside ...
After I began to meditate, a feeling of constant inner comfort began to appear in me. This is not a state of unbridled happiness, not a feeling of intoxicating euphoria, but just some kind of quiet joy and comfort. Actually, people are looking for sensations of psychological comfort in alcohol and other drugs. But I have this state so I don’t need to go to the store for it, why do I need alcohol? So, I can relax myself, why should I ruin my health and cloud my mind? I feel comfortable during the holidays, in a cheerful company. In short, I almost always feel good, why should I drink or smoke?
With the help of the practice of meditation, I found a certain balance that I really do not want to break. If I drink, even a little, I feel the next day some decline in moral strength. If you drink constantly, then you do not notice it, but the less often - the more noticeable this feeling. At these moments, it seems that balance has been shaken, which is supported by meditation and sobriety. And I really do not want to break this balance. This is one of the reasons why I don't drink.
You can read thousands of tips on how to stop drinking and smoking, but until you find a sense of inner comfort and balance, it will be difficult for you to do so. My way to achieve such states is meditation. You can come to them somehow differently, or you can not reinvent the wheel and go along the beaten track of many generations. After all, meditation has helped many people get rid of addictions. If you did the previous steps, then you should already meditate and it will be much easier for you to quit bad habits. If you do not practice, then it's time to start.
Theory
In my articles on quitting drinking forever and the only way to quit smoking forever, I wrote that in order to get rid of bad habits, it is necessary to eliminate the psychological reasons for which you smoke or drink. Dependence has two sides - physiological and psychological. You can get rid of the physiological dependence by quitting the substance you are used to. Your body will eventually rebuild its processes, and you will no longer have a "physical" craving for the drug.
If psychological dependence did not play a significant role, then people would easily stop drinking and smoking and would never return to these habits again. After all, it is not so difficult to endure the physical “break-up”, all the more so, being guided by considerations of concern for your health. But there is something before which these considerations fade, these are psychological causes of drug use, something that forms psychological dependence.
Many people drink and smoke, not because their bodies are used to the drug. They do this to relax, relieve tension, get rid of “social” brakes, drown out grief, get pleasure and a state of psychological comfort, fill pauses in conversation, use their senses, forget, spend time, get rid of boredom, etc. etc. You see what a wide area of individual needs affects the process of using drugs, including alcohol and cigarettes!
That is why many people see such joy in smoking and drunkenness, because it is very much connected with the person, with her desires. If you just stop to satisfy these desires with the help of the usual means, then they will not go anywhere and will appear again and again. This is the reason why people cannot so easily quit smoking or drinking. And how will they relax? How to endure boredom? How to spend time?
And, not finding a satisfactory answer to these questions, they again return to harmful "joys." To get rid of psychological dependence, you need to change personality. And this is not so easy, although it is certainly possible, and this is proved by my example, in particular. To get rid of any temptations leading to dependence, you need to carry out a series of comprehensive measures, for example:
- To gain a sense of harmony, balance, comfort, joy. (Meditation, yoga, sports, work on your inner world, self-development, intellectual development)
- Learn to relax. (Described in the previous step how to learn to relax)
- Lonely, boredom. To be able to enjoy the absence of any activity.
- Strengthen willpower. Develop self-discipline.
- To expand the scope of their interests and hobbies.
- Get rid of sensory hunger, unhealthy need for constant information and irritation of the senses. (The following articles may be helpful: How to get rid of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), how to cope with boredom)
Some of the information you will find in the articles on the links, a lot more is said in the articles about how to stop drinking and smoking. I posted links to them above. It is necessary to understand that it is impossible to compose a completely universal program, since each case of dependence is individual: someone drinks because it is constantly tense, someone thus relieves boredom, someone drowns out the pain, someone has it all together ... Everyone has different reasons for the occurrence of bad habits, and, therefore, everyone should pay attention to working with their own reasons and read the relevant materials on my website or in other sources.
It is clear that the personality must change, but nothing prevents you from quitting some bad habits right now. And the positive personality changes that will occur later will contribute to the fact that you will not return to these habits again. So there is no reason not to quit smoking or drinking right now! The following tips for every day will help smokers get rid of this poisonous health habits.
Practice. Quit smoking. Daily tips
Day 1
From tomorrow you do not smoke. This day should not be anything special to stand out among other days, except that on this day you stop smoking and never will. That is, you do not have to wait for a special day: the first of January or the day following your birthday ... Stop smoking right tomorrow, in the middle of the week. I did so: on Tuesday evening I decided that, starting tomorrow, I do not smoke. On Wednesday, I no longer smoked at work. Although, before that, on Monday and Tuesday, I, observing the usual rhythm of the smoker, also talked in a smoking room with my colleagues, dragging on a cigarette, and did not even think that this would have to be stopped soon.
Stop smoking should be abruptly and immediately. The remaining methods are not effective. No concessions. From tomorrow, do not smoke and all. So in the evening you smoke your last cigarette and from now on you are no longer smoking ...
Day 2
It will not be easy. You will be bad. How bad it depends on your smoking experience. We'll have to suffer. This must be remembered. Otherwise, underestimating the effects of withdrawal syndrome, you immediately reach for a cigarette. In the morning it will still be fine, but in the afternoon fasten!
Remember, you do not "quit smoking." You have already quit smoking! You no longer smoke, let them yesterday and smoked the last cigarette. What happened yesterday, happened yesterday. Now you are a non-smoker, look at the smokers around you: you are no longer one of them - you do not smoke. Colleagues call "go to smoke?" Answer: "No, I quit," and not "quit" or, God forbid, "I'm trying to quit."
The idea of an act that has already been accomplished, a complete decision, will help you to be more firm in your intention not to return to the cigarette again. You no longer smoke and will not smoke. And now you are very much pulling a cigarette, this is just a side effect of disaccustoming. It will pass after a while. (I smoked for 6 years, it was hard for the first three days, after it stopped, then the syndrome gradually "faded out" for two weeks, then everything. According to my recollections, it was very easy to quit because it really broke down just a few days. But I haven't smoked for two years now. It is a reasonable price for it.)
No need to identify yourself with the syndrome. The fact that you are drawn to a cigarette does not mean that you want it, you need it, so dependence is simply manifested at the physiological level. The body begins to experience something like hunger, which, unlike the usual need for food, can be endured. Be patient as you endure any physical pain or discomfort that everyone can tolerate. These are not your desires, it is simply a reaction of the body, expressed in such discomfort.
You have no opportunity to remove this discomfort! No smoking! It is forbidden. Smoking is taboo. Set in your mind a strict ban on it. No matter how bad you feel - endure, it will end. Horror writer Stephen King has a story called “Quit Smoking Corporation”. It described an organization that helped quit smoking to heavy smokers. The man who approached them was being followed. If he lights a cigarette for the first time, his finger is chopped off; if he repeats again, his wife’s or child’s finger is chopped off, then worse sanctions follow.
This policy did not leave room for the temptation to smoke the hero of this story. He simply could not. What are the cost of several days of weaning compared to the prospect of living without a finger!
Tune in to the fact that you just like this character can not smoke! What is the cost of a few days of withdrawal compared with the prospect of ruined lungs, heart and blood vessels? It is even worse than a severed finger!
Be brave until the next day. Instead of a smoking room, go for a walk outside or just stand on the balcony. Chew gum (normal), if you feel better. Do not eat much! No need to replace one habit with another, it is not at all effective! When I quit smoking, I was not at all stouter, because I knew about this risk and tried not to eat more than usual.
Day 3
The first day without cigarettes was endured - consider the sex of the business done. But not time to relax. Today will not be easier. Get ready. But you no longer smoke, and it is very good. In your free time at work or at home, read an article about the effects of nicotine on the brain. Why does habituation and withdrawal occur, as manifested at the level of the mechanisms of the brain? It will be very informative and relevant to you. Read also about the harm of smoking.
If any thoughts come to mind that come down to lightening (“just one cigarette”) - get rid of these thoughts, no matter how convincing they may seem! This is an insidious deception of addiction that transmits false ideas through your brain. These thoughts can seem very tempting and even reasonable. But do not be deceived! Bring all such thoughts into your personal "banlist." They are easy to weed out from all other thoughts on a simple principle: any thought of smoking is a lie!
Hold on!
Day 4
It should be a little easier. If not, then it will be in a few days. But to endure “breaking up” must not be so hard anymore. In the morning, inhale deeply, feel the new smells. After all, the sense of smell is strongly dulled by constant smoking. Breathe should be easier.
Day 5
Give out the accumulated energy. Take a short run or go to the pool. You are no longer a smoker, and you can afford such exercises as running, since your lungs work better.
In a couple of months, if you do not ruin your health in any other way, you will feel an improvement in overall well-being. Without cigarettes, the general state of the body is much better: you are less tired, sleep better, you have increased stamina, shortness of breath and breath odor disappear.
Лучше не употреблять алкоголь, по крайней мере, в первую неделю отказа от сигарет, так как с алкоголем легче сорваться. Но если вы чувствуете в себе силы, то можете заодно приступить к следующему эксперименту и бросить пить на месяц.
Эксперимент для тех, кто хочет бросить пить (также актуально для курильщиков)
Давайте проведем эксперимент. Я предлагаю вам с завтрашнего дня отказаться на 30 дней от алкоголя. Если вам этот срок кажется большим, то значит, вы привыкли пить часто и вам, тем более, необходим такой эксперимент.
Если для вас очень легко продержаться 30 дней - удлиняем срок: 2, 3 месяца и т.д.
Отказаться вообще - это значит отказаться вообще. Без исключений: день рождения друга, свадьба, ваш день рождения - без разницы, 30 дней вы не пьете. Также как и с отказом от сигарет: не ждем особого дня или повода, начинаем эксперимент прям завтра.
За месяц вы наверняка успеете побывать в различных ситуациях, в которых вы привыкли выпивать: праздники, вечера после тяжелых рабочих будней. Только, на этот раз, придется обойтись без алкоголя. Вы постараетесь научиться хорошо проводить время и расслабляться без спиртного. Это и будет целью эксперимента. Прочитайте статью как бросить пить навсегда, ссылку давал выше.
Не достаточно просто перестать пить, нужно найти здоровую альтернативу тому, что вы привыкли получать от алкоголя, иначе этот 30-дневный «пост» будет мало эффективным.
Учитесь расслабляться
Если вы нуждаетесь в том, чтобы расслабиться, вы можете воспользоваться рекомендациями из предыдущего шага и каждый день по вечерам практиковать одну из техник релаксации (и/или медитацию). Старайтесь в период этого месяца находить здоровые способы расслабления: спорт по вечерам, бассейн, прогулки на свежем воздухе, водные процедуры. Если вы привыкли расслабляться при помощи алкоголя, то в вашем мозгу на нейронном уровне закрепляется связь между состоянием расслабления, комфорта и приемом определенных химических соединений. Таким образом устанавливается привычка на физиологических процессов.
Вы должны разорвать эту связь. Сделать так, чтобы ваш мозг начал ассоциировать расслабление с теми вещами, которые я перечислил выше. 30-дневный «пост» послужит хорошим поводом для того, чтобы закрепить новые связи.
Учитесь проводить время и веселиться
Если во время срока этого «поста» будет какой-то праздник, то это замечательно! Отличный повод попробовать проводить время весело без алкоголя. По моим собственным наблюдениям, по началу, это очень сложно. Какое-то время назад я не мог представить ни одной вечеринки без алкоголя. И, когда я первый раз обещал себе не пить на дне рождения друга, удержание такого обещания прошло с огромным внутренним сопротивлением. По-началу, я даже как-то растерялся, не знал, что делать без бутылки. Несколько часов на вечеринке прошли с ужасным трудом, было скучно и неинтересно. Но затем я сам начал себя развлекать: общался, слушал музыку, что-то придумывал. И, в итоге, провел время замечательно.
Проблема алкоголя и других наркотиков состоит в том, что они отбивают охоту ко всякой деятельности и изобретательности. Когда человек выпивает или что-то употребляет - ему больше ничего не нужно, появляется какая-то временная самодостаточность: выпил и сидишь трепешь языком - больше ничего не интересно. Обратите внимание на пьющие компании, которые приводят на посиделки своих детей. Это могут быть какие-то шашлыки. Дети бегают вокруг, играют, что-то придумывают, пока взрослые просто сидят на одном месте, толкая тосты.
Конечно, взрослые не дети, если их лишить бутылки, вряд ли они станут играть в салочки. Но этот пример все равно, хоть как-то иллюстрирует разницу в отношении времяпрепровождения между непьющими и пьющими. Непьющим приходится что-то изобретать, чтобы поддерживать коллективное веселье праздника, а бутылка рушит на корню всю изобретательность.
Поэтому, первое время, вам будет скучно просто сидеть на заднице и трепать языком на всяких мероприятиях без бутылки. Поэтому развлекайте себя, веселитесь, что-то придумывайте, знакомьтесь с людьми, танцуйте, находите неожиданные темы для разговора, проявляйте любую активность. Вы поймете насколько такое времяпрепровождение разнообразней алкогольных посиделок. Как надоест, идите домой, засыпайте здоровым сном, набравшись свежих впечатлений. А с утра просыпайтесь со свежей головой и полным сил, радуясь тому, как хорошо вы себя чувствуете. За веселье не пришлось платить головной болью.
Не во всякой компании существует возможность хорошо проводить время без алкоголя, так как многие собираются исключительно с целью выпить: набиваются на маленькой кухне, как селедка в бочке, быстренько накидываются и сидят, заполняя паузы между глотками разговором. Естественно, если вы не пьете, вам может стать скучно в такой компании, и в этом нет ничего противоестественного. Просто уходите пораньше или вообще не посещайте такие мероприятия.
Но если собеседники интересные, с ними всегда интересно просто разговаривать, не важно, пьют они или нет. Ситуации бывают разные, и много зависит от самой компании, от того, кто эти люди, зачем эти люди собрались, а не только от вас.
На своем опыте я убедился, что можно легко вести откровенный разговор «по душам» без алкоголя, что можно отдыхать и весело проводить время не будучи пьяным. Это приходит с опытом, у того кто даже не пытался - никогда не получится, будьте уверены. Если праздник организован хорошо и он крутится не только вокруг бутылки, то всегда можно найти чем заняться. Я заметил, что существует некая грань, рубеж, который нужно перейти, перетерпеть.
Сначала скучно, но потом атмосфера праздника как-то увлекает, раскрепощает и веселит без всякого алкоголя. Это чувство складывается из хорошей музыки, улыбок друзей, приятных бесед и новых впечатлений. Это ощущение бодрит и пьянит без всякого вреда для здоровья, без всяких неприятных последствий. За 30-дневный срок без выпивки вы должны посетить один праздник и попробовать войти в это состояние, прочувствовать его! Если у вас это получилось, считайте вы заработали пятерку за эксперимент!
