You know you should kick the habit. Your family knows it and all the people around you know it. If you had a dime for every time someone told you to stop smoking you could almost cover the medical bills you will eventually get if you don't stop now.
You have read all the stop smoking gimmicks and tried all the programs out there but none of them seem to work for you. That's right, I called them gimmicks! Don't be fooled by all those programs out there that guarantee you to stop smoking because chances are they will not work. There is nothing out there to guarantee your freedom from smoking other than your own determination and will power. You have probably read this before but I find it to be a very motivational topic to help smokers to kick the habit....stop smoking and you will find out exactly how much money you have been wasting on cigarettes. Depending on where you live a pack of smokes costs anywhere from three to five dollars a pack. If you smoke a pack a day that's $21 a week, $84 a month and about $1000 a year! That's a huge chunk of cash out of your yearly income that could be used for more productive things.
For most people, the urge to smoke makes money seem like toilet paper. If you have ever been broke and spent the day couch fishing, searching through pockets or breaking open the piggy bank to find a few more pennies to buy another pack then you know what I am talking about. Smokers have extremely bizarre priorities. They often spend the day worrying about how many smokes they have left, when they are going to be able to smoke and where they put their lighter.
Being able to kick the habit is mostly a mental challenge. Besides the habit of picking up a cigarette every so often there is the factor of the addiction. Habit and addiction are the first things you have to overcome, and usually the easiest. Reaching for your smokes and the lighter can be easily avoided if you put them in an awkward place. Doing that alone will never be enough to finally kick the habit. Each time you feel like smoking, ask yourself how it will make your day go by any faster. Will it help you in anyway what so ever? Smoking slows you down, both physically and mentally. Now I am not saying that your IQ drops every time you smoke, although others may disagree, but think about what you are doing when you feel the urge. You have to stop whatever your doing and your brain goes into full smoking mode. Whatever it was that you were thinking about or doing fades into the back of your mind and you put smoking before anything else. It takes you longer to get things accomplished because you have to stop what you're doing to light up. You have to train yourself to think about not smoking when you want to smoke the most. During this time is when a lot of smokers lose it and give into it. Once again, THINK about giving into it. How can something no bigger than a pocket knife be changing your habits and running your life? Sometimes quitting alone can be more than one person can bear. Make sure everyone knows you are trying to quit and ask them for support and praise when you are smoke free, this can help reinforce your will power.
Now, you are also probably well aware of the serious health problems caused by smoking. If you are a long time smoker you may either not care or just don't think you will ever suffer from any health problems. In time they will catch up to you.
When is the last time you went for a long walk or a short jog? For you long time smokers I bet it have been quite a while. Take a walk or a short jog and find out just how much of an effect smoking is having on you. Can you even remember how good it felt to breathe fresh air? Stop smoking for just 2 days and think about breathing, deep and long breaths. You will be astonished with how good it feels to breathe fresh air. That will probably be because you're not as tired as you usually are as well. For those two days you were not smoking you will get better sleep and feel refreshed when you wake up. When you are on a roll for not smoking think about each and every second you have smoke free. You are more alert, you can breathe better, you smell better and people are not bugging you about it!
