We come to the final part of a series of articles about how to quit smoking yourself.
The previous parts of the links:
PART 1 - The only way to quit smoking once and for all
PART 2 - How I quit smoking
PART 3 - Why do people smoke
In these articles, I said that in order to quit a habit without resistance, and not return to it in the future, we must fight not with addiction as such, but with the reasons for its occurrence, which are characterized by the psychological properties of the individual. I am sure that this is the most effective and self-evident way to quit cigarettes.
In the third part of the cycle why people smoke, I listed these properties, which is why we smoke. Now I will explain what to do to eliminate the causes of nicotine addiction. And after that I will talk about how to set yourself up to quit smoking, what to expect and what to fill up and how easier it is to go through the disaccustoming period.
Congratulations! You have already done most of the work on quitting cigarettes!
In fact, if you read the previous parts of a series of articles about smoking and the information presented there, somehow pushed you to the realization of those things that I tried to convey (or maybe you already knew, but I only strengthened your confidence in this), you can assume that half the work you have done.
Self-development, work on yourself, getting rid of shortcomings and dependencies begins with an awareness of such things that you did not understand before, and if you did, you did not pay enough attention and let it pass by you. Thus, you overcome a certain inner barrier that separates knowledge and ignorance, sober evaluation and delusion.
And what happens next is a matter of technology. You move along the route laid by the mind in the direction of the realization of your goal (whether it is refusal from cigarettes or something else) and your strengths of will, character and awareness become assistants in this matter. But the main thing was to come to some kind of understanding and dispel past prejudices, in which I hope helped you.
Now it's time to work on yourself, let's tell you how.
How to get rid of the causes of smoking
I have already listed the main psychological prerequisites for smoking, in the third part, let's return to them. I will provide links to materials that will help you understand how to eliminate the causes of dependence. But before reading the materials on these links, I ask you to finish reading this article. Since there is something else you need to know about cigarettes. It will be a bit later.
How to cope with the need for constant stimulation of the senses and the state of boredom in those moments when you are not doing anything? This will help you some of the tips from the article struggle with boredom and how to get rid of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Many people constantly smoke, for the reason that they cannot cope with the feeling of boredom. They need to constantly interrupt some monotonous actions with smoke breaks, they cannot sit in one place for a long time without something not to occupy their hands and mouth.
If you want to stop smoking by yourself, then you just need to be able to somehow relax, bring thoughts and nerves in order without any means at hand such as cigarettes or drinks. The inability to calm down, cope with stress and tension is one of the main reasons why we smoke (drink, drink soothing pills, use drugs). The following articles will help you learn how to relax.
7 lessons on how to stop being nervous and how to strengthen the nervous system
How to learn to relax
8 tips on how to relieve stress and tension without drugs and alcohol
If you understand that you have weak willpower and therefore it is difficult for you to deny yourself your weaknesses and habits, it is difficult for you to endure the state of physical and psychological discomfort for a long time and it is difficult for you to give yourself a promise, and then fulfill it against all odds. Read the article How to develop willpower
Unfortunately, I have not written an article about how to gain confidence in communicating with people. Whereas the desire to smoke is often caused by a feeling of awkwardness in communication and the desire to fill in the pauses in a conversation. But I will definitely publish such an article. (Update: read the article how to stop being shy)
This is all, in my opinion, the main psychological factors of smoking, getting rid of which, you eliminate the craving for cigarettes or any other drugs forever and it will not be too difficult for you to quit a bad habit. By this you guarantee to yourself that you will not return to it in consequence.
Of course, it is possible that these are not all the reasons for which we smoke, but perhaps these are the most common. Chances are good that each of you spends money buying a pack because of this. (It often happens that there is not one of these factors, but a whole aggregate)
Of course, I do not exclude the fact that you have your own, individual prerequisites for nicotine addiction, which I have not identified. Well, let! The main thing is for you to understand the general principle about which I spoke repeatedly that you need to work with these prerequisites themselves, and not only with their symptoms! And what they personally have is not so important.
But this does not mean at all, that if you want to quit smoking, you cannot do this until you have completely solved the main problems of addiction. You can refuse cigarettes once and for all today or tomorrow, just in passing you will need to work with the properties of your personality, correct and correct them.
After all, now, when you read all my articles about smoking, you began to better understand the nature of your addiction, at least I hope so. And knowledge is power. Now you are much more fully armed to fight the habit, now this battle promises to be not so difficult and most likely will end in your favor if you show a certain amount of patience and perseverance.
Course - get rid of bad habits
Recently I published a 5-day course on my site that will help you to quit smoking (or drinking). If you decide to quit smoking, then in this course you will see tips on the first days of unlearning, which will help you to more easily transfer the effect of nicotine breaking. Stop smoking tomorrow and return to the tips from the course every day!
How to set yourself up to quit smoking?
Now I want to set you up on the rejection of cigarettes. Please read this part carefully.
Now it may seem to you that, on the one hand, the decision to quit smoking is correct, and it answers your health reasons. But, meanwhile, you are probably confused by the prospect of depriving daily support, like cigarettes. You can hardly imagine how you will do without smoke breaks at work, what you will do during waiting hours, etc.
You will not lose anything!
You may think that you will lose something and not gain. The reduction in the likelihood of lung cancer and a general improvement in the body’s work seem to you to be too abstract, distant and inconsequential results of life without cigarettes in the face of the immediate need to somehow relieve tension during the day.
It scared me, too, before I quit smoking. But in my experience, I was convinced that these are phantom fears that are caused by your current state of mind. First of all, you are just used to smoking, which is why your addicted brain shakes you with it in such gloomy tones. But it is necessary to wean, life without cigarettes will seem something self-evident.
Secondly, if you learn to relax on your own and get rid of the need to constantly stimulate the senses, then tobacco, as one of the means to satisfy these needs, will simply cease to be needed! You will not want it, there will be no need for its use!
So do not be scared and go! No “later”, “after the new year”, “after my birthday”. Do not put deadlines, throw as soon as you decide and are ready for it and work on yourself in parallel!
No "later"!
I quit smoking right in the middle of the week at the height of the busiest schedule at work, at a time when I usually want tobacco the most. And since I coped with the abolition of nicotine in such a situation, I ensured myself that I would not smoke under any circumstances!
Get ready for not feeling well, at least in the first week after the cancellation. Do not take these symptoms as a signal that you need to get a dose of nicotine. In general, forget that this discomfort can somehow be eliminated, except that you can wait it out. Imagine that this is like a cold that cannot be removed with any pills and you just have to endure it before you feel good again.
Be patient. This is not such a strong inconvenience; it is much easier to endure than severe pain, hunger or lack of sleep. But then you will be unspeakably glad that you do not smoke or inhale this nasty poison. After all, this smoke begins to seem terribly disgusting when you wean it from him.
Your brain can be your enemy!
Immediately adjust yourself to the fact that many of the thoughts that will occur to you during this period will be reduced to what you need to smoke. At the same time, they will not necessarily be in the form of an insistent and categorical demand, most likely these reflections will become some kind of ingenious tricks and insidious excuses.
A starving person without nicotine can be very inventive in terms of finding the means for your body to get the dose of drug it is used to. Therefore, no matter how convincing and reasonable it would seem, the thought that it is necessary to drag on, that “once”, that “last” or that “later after the new year, but for now I will smoke” - they are all lies. Immediately, categorically, in the form of an indisputable imperative, discuss it beforehand with yourself: whatever comes into my head regarding the need to take a cigarette - all this is a trick and a lie, a way to deceive yourself and step over the promise given to yourself!
Be patient, these thoughts will go away with the habit. After all, the sense that you delay nicotine withdrawal for later is zero. Even not a zero, but a negative number, because in this way you will only continue to ruin the body and, together with an increase in the smoking experience, complicate getting rid of it later. All the same, you most likely will have to quit smoking, just later it will be more difficult. Keep this in mind. And not to forget, go back to this article and reread this part.
A week - two, and now you are much easier. Is it really such a long time? Of course not! But the truth does not end there. The physical symptoms you have endured, but now you need to reach a state of mind in which there is no need for cigarettes. This will help you my advice, links to which I gave here in the article. Good luck in your endeavors!
What impression does a smoker make? Farewell to the road
And remember that a smoking person, besides creating an impression of a person who does not care about his health, also thereby demonstrates a certain weakness. After all, smoking is nothing but a weakness that you allow yourself, while others do not allow. This may indicate the absence of a strong-willed character, decisiveness and concern for oneself. A symbol of the lack of these qualities is a cigarette in the mouth. Believe me, she speaks about you much more than you can imagine.
Also understand such a thing. Cigarettes not only cause cancer, pregnancy problems, cardiovascular diseases and diseases of the nervous system. Besides the fact that they contribute to bad teeth, bad breath and put people around you in danger as a result of passive smoking, they also provoke the development of those needs that you satisfy through smoking! You become less focused and more restless, as you get used to the fact that in your pocket there is always a ready remedy for nervousness. Such easy and affordable solutions can spoil your temper and make you more sensitive to stress and boredom. So a cigarette causes not only a deterioration in health, but is also a cause of personal flaws!
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