How to quit smoking-Step by step

How to quit smoking- step by step

It’s that time of year, when resolutions are being made for a brand new year!

Here is the process that I take people through to prepare them for quitting smoking. 

THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IS THAT YOU HAVE TO WANT TO QUIT!
Thinking you "should quit " is not the same thing as wanting to quit.  You need to change your thoughts and beliefs around smoking, what it gives you, and what it takes away. You want to build up the desire to quit, the motivation to quit and clear everything that is in the way of that. Changing habits that you are attached to is exactly as hard as you think it will be. So, think it will be easy!

TIP: Decide it will be easy. 
Don’t allow yourself to build it up in your mind that it is going to be really big and hard. 
Doing this just gives it more power over you. Instead, decide it will be easy. This is a big mind shift, I get it.  We tend to create stories in our heads about how hard it will be to give something up. 

TIP: Create a new story, one in which it will be easy for you to quit. 
If you can’t accept it will be easy, because you "know" it will be hard, be open to the possibility that it could be easy. Exactly how hard your mind fights the notion that it could be easy is revealing as to how much you have conditioned yourself to believe that it will be hard. The good news is that you can convince yourself of a new story, with just as much strength as the story in which you have convinced yourself that you can’t quit.  

Step #1- Get very clear on your reasons to quit; why you WANT to quit.
What are your reasons for wanting to quit?

• health is more important than smoking
• want to have better skin
• avoid cancer
• save money
• What else?

Lock on to whatever has meaning to you. 

Step #2- Write down all the places you currently do not smoke:

• in the house
• in the car
• at work
• around the kids
• around family

Think about how easily you have trained yourself to not smoke in those places; how naturally you abstain in those scenarios.  If you are someone that thinks about smoking all the time, and it’s always hard to have to wait to smoke, I encourage you to get some help with coaching to help unwind that craving. Hypnosis can be incredibly helpful. However most people have several places they have adapted as Non smoking places. Understand how much power you already have over smoking by looking at your list.

Step #3- Get clear on why you love smoking.
List everything you love about smoking, what it gives you, why it’s important to you.
Get REALLY clear on the reasons you smoke. This is so important. If you don't understand what it gives you, how it fills a need, then quitting is just a battle of wills. You need to dig deep here to be most effective. Be honest with yourself. You will want to change the meaning you put on smoking, how it fulfills you. You can’t do that if you don’t look at the reasons why first.


Step #4- Write down how great your life will be without smoking; the benefits you will have.
Spend some time on this step too. You want to really build this up in your mind as the desirable outcome; how great you will feel, how proud of yourself you will be. Most people I know that smoke have guilt and shame attached to smoking. Imagine life without that. Imagine how great you could feel about yourself. What other benefits do you foresee? Paint an excellent picture for yourself of all the things you could do as a non-smoker and all the benefits that would entail, especially how you will feel about yourself. 


Step #5- Build up the belief that you can do this.
Another vital step is building up the belief that you can quit. Pay attention to all the thoughts that come up as to why the belief might not feel true. What are those thoughts that tell you can’t achieve it or that you are not ready? These thoughts are important. Pay attention to all of them.
What’s coming up for you?  You need to address your doubts and build on the perception that you can do this.
Learning to control the narrative in your mind is imperative to making change. You can do it. Once you understand that the narrative is simply a story you have been telling yourself, you can change it.

When you have gone through the steps above and have a healthy desire to quit then…

Step # 6- Set a date to quit.
Pay attention to all the things going on in your mind-

• If you still have lingering doubts, write them down. Are they valid? Or are they just part of the old story telling you that you can’t do this?

 

• Is there any part of you that is not 100% sure you can follow through with the plan? What are your thoughts around this? Reinforce the belief "I CAN DO THIS".

 

• Coaching can be incredibly helpful in the quitting process and hypnosis can greatly support you quitting, once you have done this work.

Check out my New Years Resolution special if you would like help quitting anything this New Years!

Best of luck on your quitting journey!