Five ways to increase your stop smoking success

It’s that time of year when many people decide to stop smoking for good – only for their healthy intentions to go up in a puff of smoke a short time later.

Actually stopping smoking is something that most smokers intend to do. Yet it can seem quite daunting to actually stop smoking. After all, you’ve probably tried and failed before and you may be surrounded by others with similar tales of failure and frustration.

If you really want to stop smoking and you want to start feeling healthier, happier and wealthier right now, then here are five things that will help give you that push and increase your chances of success.

1) List all the reasons you want to stop smoking

Write them all down – every single reason you want to stop smoking, however big or small. Maybe you want to get your sense of taste back, or sit in your car without that stale smoke smell. Maybe you want to be able to walk up a flight of stairs without being out of breath, or have more energy to play with your kids as they grow up.

And maybe you want to take back control over your health and well-being rather than continuing to let the cigarettes control you.

And then write down all the things you get from continuing to smoke – maybe it gives you a break in your day, helps you calm down or you enjoy hanging around with others who smoke.

Because it is up to you whether you smoke or stop smoking, compare your lists and decide whether what you get from smoking each cigarette, is really worth giving up all the things you can have in your life when you quit.

Put the list of reasons to stop smoking somewhere visible – on the cupboard, by your bathroom mirror or on your phone, to constantly remind you why you are going to quit.

2) The butt end of smoking

How much time do you spend thinking about whether to smoke the next cigarette, or how many you’ve smoked over the last week or month? For most smokers the answer is not much time at all. You decide to smoke and then you do it – and the more you do any habit, the less you think about it.

So to help focus your mind, for the next two weeks, keep the butt of every cigarette you smoke and put it in a jar (just make sure you;ve put it out properly first!). Spend a few moments before every cigarette you smoke to look at those accumulating fag butts. Any why not take a good sniff of the contents too. Make sure you hit home to yourself how much you smoke and start pausing to decide whether you really want the next one.

3) Ever not smoked?

Have there ever been times where you haven’t smoked? Every smoker has times when they do not smoke – when you are asleep, in places you can’t smoke such as airports and hospitals, perhaps when you are with non-smokers and all those times before you smoked and when you’ve tried to quit smoking before.

Start thinking about what was different in those times. Maybe you were more relaxed, or you found other ways to relax. Maybe you organised your life slightly differently or spent time with different people.

If you’ve ever not smoked, use these times as a resource and consider what was different then that you can use as a stop smoking strategy now.

4) Money, money, money

Sure, you want to stop smoking for your health but, whether it is a strong motivation or not, you also know that you will save money once you quit.

If you smoke around 20 a day then you probably spend in excess of £2,500 a year on cigarettes (and that figure rises every budget!). That’s a wad of cash worth paying attention to!

What else would you rather spend that money on?

One client I worked with to stop smoking, starting putting aside the amount he would have spent on cigarettes and he and his partner were soon off on a wonderful holiday. And if you really want to improve your health, think of the fitness options open to you when you have the money to pay for any memberships, support or kit you need.

5) Get Support

If you need support to stop smoking then go and get it. It isn’t going to come to you so take that first step and start taking action now. The sooner you stop the sooner your health improves.

And just imagine how good it will feel when you can truthfully say with a smile on your face, ‘no thanks, I don’t smoke.’

The Successful Stop Smoking Package

My successful stop smoking package may be just what you need to quit – it covers all the habits, associations and barriers which surround smoking to help you break free.

If you need help to stop smoking for good then call me on 01353 669941 and ask to book your free initial consultation.

Best wishes

Dan Regan

Hypnotherapist & Coach

www.elymindcoaching.co.uk