Friday, July 27, 2007

How to easily quit smoking

There is a burning desire in all smokers to find out how to easily quit smoking. The reason for this is quite simple. Every time smokers try to quit smoking they find that is difficult and inevitably 19 out of 20 fail to kick the habit. However, it is true that you can easily quit smoking so let me explain.

Now this may sound a bit weird but my personal view on this is that quitting smoking is only difficult because smokers don't know how to easily quit smoking.

Let me clarify. Driving a car is difficult the first time you do it. That is because you do not know how to drive a car. Once you have spent some time learning 'how' to drive a car, it becomes easier. In fact, most people don't even think about how to drive a car and they do it every day. It becomes second nature.

Let's look at another example. Most people think that building and publishing a website is difficult. Before I started working full time on the internet I felt the same. Then, as time passed and I took time to learn how to write webpages, publish articles, write blogs and manage a website, I realised that it wasn't difficult. It was just that before, I didn't know how to do it and that made it seem difficult.

To this day I haven't the faintest idea how to weld, but I am certain I could learn!

And so it is with smoking. I know how to easily quit smoking because I learned how to and have done it. That doesn't mean I start and stop as I please. As a smoker, I spent 20 years of my life wanting to stop smoking. The problem was, I didn't know how to easily stop smoking and so every attempt over 20 years (and there must have been 20 or 30 attempts) ended in failure. That was until I discovered how to easily quit smoking. I don't want to be a smoker - that's why I found out how to quit.

Now obviously, I cannot write a 500 word article that is going to explain in full how to easily quit smoking. I explain how to easily quit smoking in my book but I want ot give you a few pointers here in this article.

The first and foremost issue that smokers absolutely must overcome in order to easily quit smoking is to change their outlook on cigarettes and how that fits in with the rest of their lives. What I mean by this is that most smokers subconsciously or not, believe that cigarettes form a part of their persona. A non-smoker picks up their keys and wallet when they leave the house. A smoker picks up their keys and wallet and cigarettes and lighter. It forms an integral part of their every day life.

Smokers will pretty much always know how many cigarettes they have on their person. They know this like they know how many fingers anyone knows they have on their left hand.

Smoking and cigarettes (or whatever your 'pleasure') are an integral part of a smokers life. They feel that cigarettes provide enjoyment and pleasure. They are difficult to live without because of the pleasure they bring. Right?

Wrong!

In order to even start on discovering how to easily quit smoking, smokers must learn to comprehend that they can spend the rest of their lives without cigarettes. It is not a matter of thinking I will quit smoking, then have a cigarette once a month because I enjoy them so much. A smoker who is trying to quit must understand that they can enjoy the rest of their lives without cigarettes. Let me explain why.

Roughly speaking 25% of the population smoke. Another 25% of the population used to smoke but have quit. Yet another 25% of the population tried to smoke at some point but couldn't so they didn't bother. Finally, 25% of the population have never had a cigarette or any tobacco smoke enter their lungs.

As a smoker you are only make up 1 in 4 of the population and the other three quarters seem to get on with their lives ok. They don't need cigarettes and if you are a smoker, you don't either. Once you understand this point, you have taken your first step on how to easily quit smoking.

I know that if you are looking to quit smoking you will be shown a vast array of products to choose from, including nicotine replacement therapy, chantix, zyban, herbal solutions, books and hypnosis. Whilst I believe in the cognitive behavioural approach as being the best way to quit smoking, it is not perfect for everyone. So I recommend that you try anything or everything you can to quit smoking. There will be at least one effective approach to quitting smoking that will work for you. I only wish I could tell you which!

Whatever you do, never quit trying to quit.

Why do people try to quit smoking before they know how to quit smoking? Pete Howells is the author of the EasyQuit System available only online at http://easyquitsystem.com. He also blogs, post articles and videos at http://easyquitsystem.com/blog and at http://quit-smoking-motivator.blogspot.com