Are you going to be a happy ex-smoker?

With the new year coming I just thought I'g go over the idea of stopping smoking as a new yea's resolution.

I've already mentioned a few times that you should only do it for yourself! And you shouldn't stop smoking now or any time for that matter, because your under pressure from different people.

But my main point now is - when you do stop smoking, are you going to be a happy ex-smoker? I mean are you going to be constantly kicking yourself for 'giving up' the one thing that makes you happy? Are you going to be miserable, always wishing for 'just one' cigarette?

There is no point in stop stopping smoking unless you are going to be a happy ex-smoker. Happy that you have stopped wasting your hard earned cash, happy that you are no longer doing yourself harm and happy that your life is much better now that you are free from cigarettes.

There are several things you can do to ensure you are a happy ex-smoker. For a start, and it should be pretty obvious - stop smoking because you want to! Make sure that you replace the pleasure you got from smoking with something else. For example, you could pick up a new hobby or spend more time with your kids or buy yourself something you normally couldn't afford.

The list of ways you can ensure that you are going to be a happy ex-smoker. But the most important thing is that you take the time to plan and prepare to ensure that you really are a happy ex-smoker.

So if you are not going to be a happy ex-smoker - don't stop smoking, until you are ready and prepared!

Holiday Season Stress

I know how it can be, first we've got to get presents for everybody we can think of, then we leave it too late or find that someone else has already bought somone the same present. Then there's the family argument, or we can't decide where to have Christmas dinner - your parents or theirs!

Does this seem a familiar picture?! Maybe it does and maybe it doesn't. But the fact of the matter is that the holiday season usually has a few stressful moments for all.

And if you're a smoker, this can be prety difficult to handle. Especially when you can't just light up in the house or around kids or at the office party etc.

So how do you beat this stress? Well, I know of a few techniques that are especially helpful. One is called an anchor - and is a way of instantly removing stress and making yourself feel good about any situation. I duscuss it thoroughly in my eBook.

One other very effective way of dealing with stress is a breathig technique I personally use, as well as reccommending to my clients, to remove stress whenever necessary. Ok, so you may be thinking - 'oh no, not anotheer breathing technique!'

The truth is that I sympathise with this point of view, because far too often have I read and heard people and so called quit smoking experts go on about how to quit smoking with breathing techniques.

And for the most part I know that it doesn't work, unless acompanied by and and used alongside several other techniques. Remember smoking involves a lot of things, you can't stop smoking by doing one thing alone. You have to work at things like dealing with stress, weight gain, cravings, withdrawal symptoms, and understanding your habits and nicotine addiction
etc.

Anyway, the breathing technique i reccommend is very simple and is good for reducing stress, I can't tell you the amount of times I've sat here in front of my computer and used this technique!

It's very simple, all you do is breathe out, heavily. Rather than taking adeep breath in, just breathe normally and then when it feels right just breathe out completely. Empty your lungs of all their air, you'll probably find that you're there for a little while.

I mean, really empty your lungs - puff out your cheeks and blow out until your feel your chest really contracting. Then naturally, without any help at all allow your lungs to fill up completely again. Then without taking another out or inbreath, repeat the process and breeathe out fully again.

By concentrating on breathing you are taking your mind of the situation, and breathing in and out heavily actually feels really good - a point i discuss in much further detail in my eBook, and one of the reasons why you enjoy smoking and why you feel it helps you relax.

I find that it is best to close your eyes when doing this technique. Also try imagining that you are on a beach or at your favourite exotic get a way vacatio / holiday location. This helps you get your mind and body involved and working in harmony.

I reccomed that you breathe out, and then in four to six times to really get a feel for it, and the more you do it, the better you will get and the easier it will be!

Anyway, season's greetings from me, and I hope this helps! Feel free to let me know!

Is Quitting Smoking Your New Year's Resolution?

What a great idea!

Quitting smoking as a new year's resolution gives you something to look forward to, it helps to you brin in the new year with a new you (perhaps allowing you the chance to make up for lost time!), and you can be proud of yourself because you are finally making a good decision!

But is it such a good idea?

Before I became a quit smoking specialisy I had partners and friends who said that they would quit smoking as their new year's resolution. And it was great, we all thought ok this is it ... finally going to quit smoking. No more wasting money, no more self-damage and no more putting it off. Determination was strong, we were ready and just before midnight they would have their last cig, and we thought - this is it!

But it wasn't, first there was a problem at work or some sort of minor crisis. Then life was too stressful and we'd wait till the middle or end of january when we weren't so low on cash. And so on, and before we knew it it would be march and my friend or partner was once again too stressed!

Does this look or sound familiar?!

It's a great idea to stop smoking but deciding to do it for your new year's resolution can actually turn round and bite you in the back side! The problem is that many smokers put themselves under too much pressure when they decide to quit and believe that there is a 'right / perfect / best time' to quit smoking. Are you in this group?

It's actually a mistake to think that just because we are bringging in a new year, you should quit. It's more important to ask yourself if you really want to quit. So do you?!!

If you do then that's great, but try not to stumble into the pitfall that is putting your last cigarette out before midnight on December 31st and then waking up hungover or not feeling quite yourself and then 'accidentally' smoking a few cigarettes. Followed by 'oh, today is my last day...I'll have my last one tonight.'

This really hurts your effort to stop smoking! You're putting yourself under undue pressure and you are almost forcing yourself to do it - because it's your new year's resolution.

The best thing you can do is wait and set a date a week or two into January. Firstly, it avoids the problems above. Secondly, you're not making the decision on impulse. And thirdly, you are over any holiday season stress and you have not spen the the two to three weeks during the holidays agonising about how difficult it will be.

This way your approach is much more relaxed, you are not making any excuses and therefore feeling guilty and you know that you are making the decision for the sake of it.

And also remember that there is never a 'good /right / perfect' time to stop smoking. Life is full of stress and problems, so any time you decide to stop smoking will no doubt involve some form or stress or other.

When you know how to deal with this and can prepare for any situaiton thoroughly, you will be ready to stop smoking stress, hassle and guilt free.

Try not to stress yourself if you're decding to stop smoking and happy holidays!

What Kind of Smoker Are You?

I recently had an email from an advertising student asking me to give him some advice on designing a system to to help him encourage other people to quit smoking!

So I explained to him that this would be no easy task! As there are millions of smokers out there, some who want to quit, and some who don't. And even the ones who want to quit either aren't determined enough, want an easy fix or just struggle aimlessly even with help!

So encouraging someone else to quit smoking can be a good idea, but a difficult task! Have a look below and see what kind of smoker you are and have a think about what kind of smokers you know.

You as a smoker will fall into one of these categories:

1. Those who don’t want to quit

2. Those that are being pressured into quitting by family / friends /doctors etc.

3. Those who know that they will at some stage, but haven’t made much of an effort so far

4. Those that want to quit

I hate to put it this way but the smokers in no. 1 are (at least for the meantime) for lack of a better way to put it – a lost cause!

It’s a hard and unfortunate to say this, but I’ve openly discussed my techniques and facts with smokers. The ones that agree or at least understand the concepts/ ideas I use are the ones that are in Nos. 3 & 4.

The other smokers simply do not accept my, or anyone’s for that matter, ideas about smoking and quitting, and they will argue through their teeth – that we are wrong! I understand their reasoning too, because I’m a hypnotherapist and I understand that once someone’s mind is made up – nothing will change it, even if it’s facts logic and truth!

I’m just saying this to you because some people don’t want to be helped!

It's difficult to encourage those that don’t want to quit, to quit! We already know that the various diseases brought on by smoking don’t have ANY effect on you, ven when you want to quit. So we can’t threaten someone who doesn't want to quit with illness, financial cost of smoking, family seeing them get ill and even death.

They are convinced that they ‘enjoy’ smoking, that it ‘relaxes’ them and that ‘their granddad smoked till he was 84, and nothing ever happened to him!’. Do you know any smokers like this? I know and meet plenty!

The smokers in category in no. 2 can probably be helped, but it’s dangerous. As i've already described in my other posts and articles, it can be pretty easy to annoy them by taking the wrong approach and they can end up not wanting to give up at all - and also hate you for interfering!

Smokers in category no.4 can be even further divided:

a.) Those that don’t know where to start / are scared that it will be too difficult

b.) Those that have tried various methods including Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) including patches, gums, inhalers, lozenges etc. and have all but given up hope as they’ve failed)

c.) Those that are open to try different methods but who believe that ‘will power’ is the most important factor and have seen every scheme out there and are unwilling to spend a little cash on something new and different

d.) Those that expect to quit in a matter of hours, with a magic pill / patch / potion / solution – those in this category may fit into one of the three above too!

So personally, I think that the best way to help and encourage smokers to quit is to educate them as to the reality about smoking. Namely that:

1. Smoking is NOT as addictive as you have been LED to believe

2. Smoking is in NO WAY WHATSOVER relaxing, uplifting, calming, nerve controlling etc.

3. Smoking is more in the mind that you believe – we are creatures of habit and a lot of relapses and problems are caused by habits and mental cues once you have stopped

4. Smokers rely on cigarettes for things like, companionship, confidence boost, appetite suppressant, to cure boredom, to enjoy yourselves and cigarettes are a HUGE part of your everyday lives – so quitting with a patch, a gum an inhaler or by using a few short breathing techniques is not going to get you anywhere near stopping smoking and then Stay Stopped.

And whey you quit, you absolutely MUST find new ways / sources / things to get the things you got from smoking like pleasure, alone time, confidence boost, stress relief etc.

And this is what I do when I help people and it is all down in my ebook – I show smokers that to successfully stop smoking you must go through Two Stages:

Stopping Smoking and Staying Stopped – both take hours to do and understand!

The first stage is all about why you smoke – learing some truths about nicotine, cigarettes, beliefs and helping you to realise that you have been kidded and it’s is a mind trick. And the second stage is about ensuring that NOTHING makes you smoke again. So that means minimizing and preventing withdrawal symptoms, cravings, pangs, anxiety and irritability, weight gain, dealing with stress and also very importantly – ensuring they adopt the correct Mental Approach.

You need a positive expectation and have to ensure that ou continue to enjoy you life when you stop – if you are miserable when you’ve stopped, you will put it down to a lack of cigarettes and you'll pick them up again.

Basically you shouldn’t look at stopping smoking as if you are ‘quitting’ or ‘giving up’ because subconsciously you'e telling yourself that this is a punishment! Instead you should look forward to the things you are going to gain!

So what kind of smoker are you and what will you do to quit?!!

Check out the rest of my site for more free resources! And I hope this has given you a little insight into my job!