How do you motivate yourself?

I know lots of smokers who try to motivate themselves by saying things like - I'm going toput five notes into a tin every day once I stop smoking or when I stop smoking my skin will be so much better and when i stop smoking I'm going to be able to taste food fully once again.

Then they gey bogged down with anxiety and panic in the days leading up to their chosen stop smoking date. And they begin to question wether or not they can do it and start thinking about how hard it was last time or it will be.

And soon they've either given up on stopping smoking because they are 'too stressed / it's not a good time' or they begin smoking again! Does any of this look or sound familiar?!

A major problem with stopping smoking and motivation is that often smokers don't take the time to stop and plan and really, really motivate themselves. It's good saying you're going to put five notes into a tin every day but then what?

You should plan to give yourself rewards, and real rewards you can look forward to feeling seeing and experienceing. So you should start by plannin on giving yourself a reward at the end of every day you go free from cigarettes.

Make it something you don't usually get to do or have. Then plan on a weekly reward and a monthly reward. Maybe you could plan on a weekend away, a trip a shopping spree or a luxurious spa treatment. Anything, anything at all that you really, really want and can now afford because you have all that extra money!

Motivating yourself is key, it's not everything and cannot help you on its own but changing your view point when you stop smoking will go a long way. When you strongly motivate yourself you do two things.

Firstly, you stop thinking, focusing and concentrating on all the things you are going to miss and have to do without when you stop smoking.

And secondly, you change the way you look at your life - you're now looking forward to the things you are going to get rather than the things you are leaving behind! The best part of this is that your mind is now focusing away from cigarettes and the things you got from them.

The mind is a very complex thing, but also works in a vey simple manner. It will seek out and help you to get whatever you focus on. So if you focus on how much you miss cigarettes
and how you used to love them, your mind will make you go back to them.

But if you focus on all the good things and rewards you are geeting now that you are free from them, your mind will be happy and will seek those things!

If you wake up thinking 'oh this is a miserable day, I've got a meeting with my boss, the weather is dreadful and I just don't care anymore' then you will have a terrible day!

But if you wake up thinking 'I don't care about the weather, it's actually refreshing to have all this rain ( or something similar ;) ) and I'm going to resolve my problems with my boss' then your day will go completely differently!

That's how the mind works! It will go after whatever you tell it to! So focus on the good things you eill get and spend a lot of time planning on the things you will get when you stop smoking. Soon you will see that it is nowehere near as hard a you thought!

Are you planning on stopping smoking?

Many smokers decide to stop smoking, but have no real plan as to how to go about it, how to make it easiest, and most importantly they make no real plans on how to ensure that they stop and stay stopped!

So what goes through your head when you decide to quit?

Do you think about how you are going to have to put up with withdrawal symptoms, weight gain and how you are going to be miserable for a few weeks?

Or

Do you think about how to prevent withdrawal symptoms, weight gain and the other side effects and symptoms of stopping smoking? And do you plan on how to ensure that you enjoy stopping smoking?

If you're like most smokers, the answer is no! And this is a big mistake!

If you're made no real plans then, to use an old and clichéd expression - you're failing to plan and therefore planning to fail!

You need to do everything in your power to ensure that when you stop smoking, it's for good - with no relapse, ever!

The best way to ensure this is to plan ahead and take steps to actually prevent the problems that most smokers think are innevitable, like withdrawal symptoms, cravings, weigh gain, relapse and anxiety and that panicky feeling - you need to stop these before they cause a large problem!.

Here are my ten steps I advise you take into account and put into practice to ensure you stop, and stay stopped:

1. Honestly want to quit - being under pressure from family / doctor / friends will only make it harder for you

2. Stop thinking that you are 'Quitting' or 'Giving Up' smoking. This attitude will only make you concentrate on the things you are going to lose or 'give up'. And you will feel as if you are depriving yourself of pleasure / relaxation etc.

Instead stop smoking and look forward to the things you are going to gain.

3. Set a date and look forward to a new lifestyle after that. And smoke without guilt right up until that date.

4. Find the things that make you smoke - your Smoking Links - you smoke when you wake, on your way to work, after sex, when you pick up the phone etc.

5. Accept that there will be problems so plan on how you are going to deal with stress and your smoking links.

6. Find a new hobby / source of pleasure to take your mind off smoking

7. Prepare and plan on how to PREVENT withdrawal symptoms and weight gain.

8. When your Stop Smoking Date arrives, take it one hour at a time and focus on the things you are going to get from quitting smoking.

If you think 'I haven't had a cig since ....' or 'I can't belive I can never had a cig again' you are only punishing yourself. Accept that this is a positive step and change your focus away from cigarettes.

9. Establish new routines - what are you going to do instead of smoking during the 20 or times a day when you normally have a cigarette? e.g. after coffe, in the pub / bar, when waiting for a friend, when nervous or lacking confidence, when bored, as soon as you wake up etc.

10. PREVENT relapse - No. 1 in this step is to STOP THINKING ABOUT CIGARETTES. Don't put your headaches, stress, sore arm or stress down to
lack of cigarettes.

And don't lust after cigarettes by thinking things like - 'Ohhh that cigarette looks sooo good, she looks like she's really enjoying that, I wish I could have one' or 'What am I going to do if my car get broken into or, I split up with my partner etc.'

The best thing you can do when you decide to stop smoking is - think about and plan defore, on how to practically guarantee that you will stop and never relapse.

There is no point in doing it half heartedly! iF you fail, you will be subconsciously telling yourself that you can't do it! And this is foten worse than not trying at all!

Do You Enjoy Smoking?

If you're like most smokers then you enjoy at least a few of your cigarettes. Whether it's the one you have when you wake up, finish your meal, your first cigarette on your lunch break or the one you have after sex!

Most smokers, even the ones that want to stop smoking, enjoy at least a few of their cigarettes. And when you stop smoking, the cigarettes that you enjoy are the ones that are going to cause you the most trouble. Why?

Well there are two main reasons. Firstly, you will probably end up concentrating on these few cigarettes and you'll long for them, you'll wish you could have them again and you will reminisce about how much you enjoyed them.

This kind of thinking will lead you to believe that you are punishing yourself by not smoking, because you are preventing yourself from enjoying the things that you love and enjoy.

The problem with this situation is not only that you are telling yourself that you are depriving yourself of pleasure, but you are also forgetting why you are stopping smoking. When you focus on the few cigarettes you enjoyed each day, you completely lose focus of the other twenty or so cigarettes each day that you hate or can't stand!

So you end up forgetting about the cigarettes you hate, the bad chemicals and toxins in them, the bad breath they bring, your smelly clothes, your yellow teeth or nails and you also forget your reasons for stopping smoking!

This is a very important aspect of stopping smoking that most people and even the so called 'experts' don't ever consider.

You focus so much on how you enjoyed a certain cigarette that you forget why you're stopping smoking! This point cannot be emphasised enough! Don't lose track of your reasons for stopping smoking!

There is a further problem when we talk about how much you enjoy cigarettes - this part of your smoking lifestyle has nothing whatsoever to do with addiction! Do you smoke after sex because you're addicted or because you enjoy it? Do you smoke after a meal because you're addicted or because you enjoy ending a meal with a cigarette?

The cigarettes you enjoy (the ones mentioned above and any others) have nothing to do with addiction. And this leads me to the second reason why the cigarettes you enjoy are the ones that will cause you the most problems when you stop smoking.

Did you notice that the cigarettes I mentioned in the first paragraph are down to a routine, situation, event or habit?

These cigarettes come at certain times of the day. Following, during or after certain events, emotions, feelings ect..

When you stop smoking, these situations will happen again - every day! So it will be difficult for you to forget about them when you are being constantly reminded about how much you enjoyed that cigarette at the end of your meal, with your cup of coffee or tea and when you first wake up.

When you are reminded of how much you enjoyed a certain cigarette you are going to end up longing for it, if you adop the wrong approach that is.

The solution to this problem is twofold. Firstly you should, from the very beginning, tell yourself, accept, strongly believe and want to stop smoking, for yourself while looking forward to a life free from the control of cigarettes.

Your mindset should be:

'I'm stopping smoking, because I want to. I'm looking forward to all the good things that I will get, from more money, improved health, fresher breath and better smelling clothes to lower blood pressure and cleaner lungs. I accept that cigarettes were once a part of me, but that was in the past. Now I'm enjoying a smoke free and healthier life'

This mindset will ensure you focus on the good things you are getting when you stop smoking.

Then you should plan on how you are going to enjoy your life when you are free from the control cigarettes had over you. This means, you accept that you will change from enjoying cigarettes to enjoying other things, and this is a key part of stopping smoking.

You absolutely must continue to enjoy your life when you stop smoking! There's no point in stopping if you are going to be a misery guts!

Even if you only enjoy the odd cigarette, yuo really need to find a way to make your smoke free life heappier than your life with cigarettes. This will help you believe that you are making a positive move by stopping smoking!

It's critical! Seriously, enjoy your smoke free life more than your life with cigarettes in it and you will find it easier to stop smoking. And it's going to be a lot easier to stop smoking - especially now that you have more money!