Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Automatic pilot

Smoking and taking those so ever loved smoke breaks become habitual.  Yup...30 years of 20 cigs a day will become an automatic thing ...so what to do??
well if you really want to quit smoking...breaking this habit, just like any habit, will require making changes in behavior...changing what you do first.  you will also have to make changes in awareness..meaning that you must find ways to remain conscientious of your smoking cessation goals at all times throughout the day!
Some behavioral ideas could include:
  • keeping cigarettes in a different place than you usually do so that retrieving them to go for a smoke break will require more thought and effort
  • only smoking in places that are unfamiliar or at least not your usual places 
  • not smoking when on the cell phone or in the car at all which are common problem areas of habit.
  • find replacements for hand occupation, like fake cigs or chewing something...
  • remove ash trays
  • put up reminder signs

Cognitive efforts could include:
  • positive thinking regarding this positive change you are trying to make
  • reminding self hourly that you are committed to quitting and you do NOT want to smoke
  • associating reminders with with regular hygiene...flossing, brushing teeth, washing hands...etc 
  • tell yourself you are removing the discoloring and odor of the cancerous smoke from your teeth and fingers!
  • remind yourself of the negative health risks hourly or at meals

The idea is to spend time figuring out what you can do to make smoking as inconvenience or as unpleasant as possible...you are trying to be more conscious how much you smoke and how often you are taking time to harm yourself.   Unpleasant habits will be broken easier than pleasurable habits...

do them all ! find more ways that work for you to stop this terrible habit!

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