I smoked for twenty years. And I was a heavy smoker. I had no idea how to stop smoking cigarettes. And I wanted to quit more because of its financial repercussion. I attended many workshops, I used nicotine patches, I tried pills like Champax etc. I tried almost all the resources that I could find under the sky to get rid of this bad habit. Nothing worked.
Besides health, it was affecting me financially as we have very high taxes on cigarettes here in New Zealand. One fine morning, I decided to analyse the reason for my addiction.
Once I got the outcome of my introspection, I was able to quit smoking within a week.
Believe me, if a heavy smoker like can do, anybody can do it. Just follow the step-by-step instructions.
Steps to follow to solve “How to stop smoking cigarettes”:
Find out whether your addiction is biological or behavioural. The good news is that it is relatively easier to overcome biological addiction.
Biological Addiction:
You are biologically addicted if you inhale the smoke up to your lungs. Go for regular use of Champax, nicotine patches or many such alternatives available in the market and it will work. The only thing that you need is the will to quit smoking.
Behavioural Addiction:
If you do not inhale smoke in your lungs, then it is not your biological need but you are addicted because of some kind of behavioural trigger.
Like if somebody sitting next to you lights up a cigarette, you also light up yours for no reason. Or having free time may be a trigger or having too much work may be a trigger. It can be anything and it will vary from person to person. You need to observe yourself for a few days to find your trigger/s.
Surprisingly, It is relatively more challenging to get rid of behavioural addiction. You need to find your trigger and change your daily life pattern to avoid these triggers.
And I will explain this by taking myself as a case study.
In my case, I smoked l more when I had more free time and less when I was busy. I started keeping myself busier to avoid smoking. It helped me reduce my smoking quite significantly.
I have heard a few life coaches suggesting that you require a strong will to give up smoking and throw your cigarette packet now if you really want to quit. Oh, please don’t do it. It doesn’t work like that. Don’t be harsh on yourself. If you throw your packet now, the craving for a cigarette will come back with double the intensity within an hour. Instead, keep your packet and reduce your smoking gradually. Believe me, It will work if you are genuinely willing to quit smoking. This method worked for me and I am sure it will work for most of you as well. you just need to have a little patience and determination.
Meditation and mindfulness techniques also help you change your old bad habits.
You may click here to develop more healthy habits for your day-to-day personal growth.
Vaping Vs Smoking:
- Unlike smoking you don’t finish one complete cigarette here. You just take a couple of puffs while vaping. That reduces the amount of smoke you inhale in a short time.
- It doesn’t smell as bad as cigarettes.
- After vaping for a month, once I tried a cigarette and I felt its smell a bit strange and felt dizzy for a few minutes. That proves that smoking is more addictive that vaping.
- If you unable to quit smoking even after trying all other steps, I will recommend you start vaping not because it is a great alternative but because it is less addictive. Once you are on vapes, try the above steps again. I am sure you will be able to quit vaping too. In short, it is easier to quit vaping than smoking.
- So here, we are introducing one extra step, in the worst case, start vaping instead of smoking and then try quitting vaping with above mentioned steps.
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