Tips on How to Stop Smoking

Smoking is a dangerous addiction, as well as one of the worst habits that you can pick up in your youth. The longer you persevere in it, the worse things become. When it comes to medical reasons for such a claim, you have lung cancer, heart disease, liver cancer, diabetes, erectile dysfunction and tuberculosis as just some of the reasons. The yellowness of nails and teeth, as well as bad breath, are things that are not only objectively troublesome but may also have an impact on your self-esteem. Your stamina might also suffer, which is why you’ll get exhausted far more quickly. In order to prevent, avoid or cure all of this, here are several tips that you can use to stop smoking.

1. Understand the addiction

The first thing you need to overcome when it comes to cigarettes is the notion that it’s not an addiction or the idea that you can stop whenever you want. Chances are that you won’t be aware of just how accurate this is until you try. This is why you need to accept your smoking habit for what it is. Second, you need to understand that the physiological need for tobacco isn’t nearly as potent as with some other substances. This doesn’t make things any easier seeing as how psychological addiction tends to be just as persistent.

Just think of a scenario where you are too busy to smoke. In this particular scenario, chances are that you wouldn’t actually feel the need for one. However, if you sat down to have a chat with a friend, chances are that you would go through half-a-box without even realizing it. This alone is one of the strongest indicators of the true nature of this habit. It is also a cognition that you may use in order to fight through.

2. Set a goal

In order to bolster your efforts to stop smoking, you need to set yourself a goal. What this means is that you need to understand why you need to quit smoking. It’s also important that your argument is quite specific in order for it to be compelling and convincing enough. For instance, it’s not enough to just say that you want to quit smoking in order to save money. What you need to do is set a specific purpose for that money. For instance, you want to save up for a holiday, a motorcycle or something similar. 

Keep in mind that the goal needs to be just so expensive that it takes you a while to achieve it. It also needs to be meaningful enough to make it worth your while. A lot of people stop smoking once they decide to become parents. These are just some of the directions in which you can plan your goals.

3. Find a cleaner alternative

Another thing you could try, if you find simply quitting to be too severe, is to switch to a cleaner alternative. We’re talking about getting something like 
e cig starter kits for you and your friends. First of all, vaping is less harmful than traditional smoking. Second, there are no horrible odors and you get far more control over vapor output. Third, you get more flavor and a more cost-effective approach to this situation as a whole. On the other hand, there are some downsides, which is the fact that it still contains nicotine, as well as the fact that it makes nicotine appealing to younger audiences. Still, as a temporary method to quit smoking, it’s more than effective.

4. Do some research

Even though you know that smoking is bad, sometimes, it might be worth your while to get yourself acquainted with all the damage that it does. So, pick up some light reading or watch a scientific video or two on the topic of these effects on your body. You may also download an ebook like Allen Carr’s Easy Way to Stop Smoking, which is considered to be a top self-help book when it comes to battling this addiction. Aside from this, you may also want to learn of how long it would take you to overcome physiological addiction, clean your lungs, etc.

5. Download an app

You need all the help that you can get, which is why downloading an app might be a great idea to make a move in the right direction. Via such an app you can track your progress and get a much better insight into just how much money you’ve saved, how much physical progress you’ve made and much, much more. For some of the most tech-savvy smokers, this can make a world of difference. Fortunately, the 
list of suitable apps in 2019 goes on and on.

6. Avoid other triggers

Now, one of the hazards that not a lot of people warn you of is the fact that once you stop smoking, your need for other substances may increase. The last thing you want is to quit smoking only to amplify your drinking habit, which is why you need to have a contingency plan. Surround yourself with people you trust and don’t put yourself in difficult situations. Speaking of which…

7. Minimize the temptation

If you have an emergency cigarette somewhere around the place, chances are that you’ll be tempted to go for them in a moment of crisis. Going out with your smoker friends is also advised against, during the first week of your attempts to quit smoking. Of course, it’s impossible for you to avoid cigarettes for the rest of your life but doing so during the toughest period is more than advisable.

In conclusion

Sure, quitting this habit is not going to be easy, however, it’s definitely worth it when you consider all the improvement that this clean life will introduce. Keep in mind that while on paper, you will be free of your physiological addiction relatively quickly, it might take you a while to make a decision, do all the necessary preparation. Even if you don’t succeed at first try, you should definitely keep trying. It’s simply worth it.