Arming yourself with knowledge and a detailed plan will exponentially increase your chances at being successful when trying to quit smoking. Did you know that only about 10% of your addition to cigarettes is physical? That leaves the other 90% to be entirely in your mind! Physically, you can easily quit smoking because the worst of the storm passes, on average, in under three days. So the hard part is getting control of your brain.
To start your planning, you should develop a simple chart. Grab a piece of paper and a pen and find yourself a few minutes to really sit down and think long and hard about this. You'll have two categories to fill: 1. Why did I start smoking to begin with? and 2. Why do I want to quit smoking now? When you thoroughly analyze your reasoning behind these actions, you can better overcome them. You'd be surprised at some of the reasons people pick up smoking to begin with - and you'll most likely find that none of those reasons even apply today.
So, what makes you want to quit? Don't write down simple reasons like, "It's bad for my health." Get down to work and be as specific as possible! Find reasons that really touch you and inspire you to continue on this endeavor. Never ever list things that might not happen, such as becoming a victim of cancer, because later down the road when you become weary in your struggle your mind will use the fact that that may not happen against you.
Let's take a look at a few examples of reasons that are specific and not maybes. Do you ever find yourself tired or exhausted when trying to do any sort of physical activity? Maybe you're getting cold quite easily. Did you know that cigarettes can increase your blood pressure and weaken the circulation of blood throughout your body?
Maybe you'll need reasons that don't apply to your health! Think about all the disgusting physical effects that smoking causes. Your skin becomes drier faster when you're smoking and it results in a faster aging process. Have you ever taken a look at your fingernails and teeth? Yep, they're probably discolored from cigarettes as well!
With today's economy, you'll probably also want to examine any possible financial reasons as well. Imagine the money that you could save if you quit smoking - maybe you would be able to do some home improvements, pay off your debts, make some charitable donations, or even just relax and go on a vacation far away.
Finally, a whole category of miscellaneous reasons exist as well. For example, did you ever consider that maybe your family gets worried knowing about all of the negative effects of smoking? What if tomorrow your children picked up the habit because they've seen you doing it? And what about how unsanitary smoking is... the walls in the home of a smoker typically lose their color and turn to a shade of yellow much faster than anywhere else. Plus, the smell of cigarette smoke lingers on everything.
I guarantee that something listed above does apply to you - and I know that there are many other reasons that you can probably think of for your own list. If you sit down and truly examine your life and how smoking effects it, you will be able to quit much more easily. Good luck!
![[Valid RSS feed]](http://www.articlecoop.com/images/icon_Rss.png "XML Feed For RSS"){kind=icon}
Category Rss Feed
Print This Article
Add To Favorites