Knitting and Sewing
|
|
The Psychology of Quitting Smoking
   
|
Are You Determined To Make A Living From Home Working Online?
Many of you are looking for free information.You want easy ways
to learn how to begin an online business.
You love searching online and are amazed by all the incr .....
Many of you are looking for free information.You want easy ways
to learn how to begin an online business.
You love searching online and are amazed by all the incr .....
Many experts believe smoking is only about 10% physical
addiction and a whopping 90% psychological addiction. Your body
will recover fairly quickly from nicotine withdrawals (the worst
symptoms usually abate in three days or less), but your
psychological dependency on cigarettes can be much more
difficult to defeat.
One way to combat this is to do a bit of self-analysis before
giving up cigarettes.
Make a list with two columns. Label column one "Why I Started
Smoking" and label column two "Why I Want To Quit Smoking."
In column one, list all the reasons you can remember as to why
you started smoking in the first place. Was it peer pressure?
Rebellion? Did you think it made you look cool? Did it make you
feel like a grown-up? Really try to remember the exact reasons
why you started smoking and write them all down.
Now look over that list. Do any of those reasons still apply in
your life today? Probably not.
If you're like most people, you will see that your reasons for
becoming a smoker are no longer valid, are often just silly, and
are easily outweighed by the risks to your health and your
family's well-being.
So let's move on to column two... Why do you want to quit
smoking?
This one may seem obvious, but it can be a bit tricky. You
really need to take some time and think hard about this. Don't
just list the obvious health reasons. You've been reading the
Surgeon General's warnings for years with little effect, so you
Reuse Works For The Workshop
The workshop is a great place for reusing items formally
destined for the landfill. Even if you do not have a shop or
craft area you can always donate the .....
need to come up with reasons that truly have meaning for you. The workshop is a great place for reusing items formally
destined for the landfill. Even if you do not have a shop or
craft area you can always donate the .....
The things most people write down will NOT help you quit
smoking...
- I don't want to get lung cancer. - I don't want to have a
heart attack or a stroke. - I'd like to live long enough to see
my grandchildren grow up.
Those are all good reasons to quit smoking, certainly... but
they deal in "possibilities" rather than in specifics.
Sure you MIGHT get lung cancer, you MIGHT have a heart attack or
a stroke, you MIGHT die young and miss out on seeing your
grandchildren grow up...
...or you MIGHT NOT! You're not likely to break a strong
psychological addiction based on what MIGHT happen. Your mind
will work hard to convince you that it won't happen to you!
Instead, list health problems that you are already experiencing.
Your list should point out things in your life that you are
actively unhappy about and are STRONGLY MOTIVATED to change. In
order to break your psychological addiction, you need an arsenal
of new thoughts and desires that are stronger than your desire
to smoke!
Here are the types of things you want to put in column two...
Why Do I Want To Quit Smoking?
1. Health Reasons
- I get so out of breath when I exert myself even a little bit.
Just vacuuming the house makes me pant and gasp.
- My feet are always cold. This could be due to high blood
pressure and poor circulation associated with smoking.
- I have a nasty wet cough and I have to blow my nose way too
often. Mucus build-up is the body's reaction to all the toxins
and chemicals in cigarette smoke and could be a precursor to
serious respiratory disease. Even if I don't get cancer, I don't
want to be one of those people who has to tote oxygen bottles
around everywhere.
- I'm always tired. Could it be that my body is using up all its
energy trying to eliminate the toxins and chemicals from
cigarettes?
2. Vanity Reasons
The Lesson Of A Mother's Death
Dedicated to my mother, Florence
November 11, 1920 May 25, 2005
The Passing of the Torch
She lies in peaceful repose on her back with her hands, one atop the other, gently resting on .....
- Smoking causes premature aging and drying of the skin. I don'tDedicated to my mother, Florence
November 11, 1920 May 25, 2005
The Passing of the Torch
She lies in peaceful repose on her back with her hands, one atop the other, gently resting on .....
want to look like a wrinkled up old prune!
- My fingers, fingernails and teeth are all tobacco stained.
Disgusting! How embarrassing.
- When I get on the elevator after a smoke break at work,
everyone wrinkles their nose and tries to edge away from me
because I reek of cigarette smoke. I feel like a pariah. It's
embarrassing to always be the big "stinker" on the elevator. I
feel like I have no self-control.
- My breath is awful. Kissing me must be like kissing an
ashtray. I spend a fortune on breath mints.
3. Financial Reasons
- If I save all the money I used to spend on cigarettes, I'll
have enough to take a vacation in Cancun (or some other warm
tropical place) every winter!
- I could use the money to pay off my credit cards!
- I could donate money to my favorite charity or sponsor a
child. My cigarette money could make the world a better place!
4. Family Reasons
- My family can stop worrying about me.
- My spouse will have to find something new to nag me about.
Just kidding, honey!
- My children will be proud of me and (hopefully) they'll never
start smoking themselves, having seen firsthand what a nasty
destructive habit it is.
5. Cleanliness Reasons
- The walls used to be white. Now they're a nasty dirty-looking
brown. I need to repaint... again!
- I stink, my car stinks, my house stinks, everything I own
reeks of cigarette smoke. I can't even lend a book to a
non-smoking friend because they can't stand the smell of smoke
permeating the pages!
Do you see yourself in any of the items listed? You may have
many more reasons of your own. Find as many compelling and
emotion reasons to quit smoking as you can think of and write
them all down.
If you can re-train your mind to think of smoking as a silly and
self-destructive thing to do, then you're almost sure to
succeed. And if you need something to do with your hands... try
knitting!
** Visit the web site at http://www.quitsmoking.com
The Benefits Of Slip Covers
Your couch is ugly and out-dated. Your loveseat looks raggedy, with threads hanging in spots. Just the sight of your old-fashioned living room .....
for great information and products designed to help you stop smoking. Article mayYour couch is ugly and out-dated. Your loveseat looks raggedy, with threads hanging in spots. Just the sight of your old-fashioned living room .....
be reprinted as long as this notice remains with the
article.
About the author:
Since 1997 QuitSmoking.com and Fred Kelley have helped thousands
of smokers who want to stop smoking.