The Benefits of Quitting Smoking
There are many health benefits to be gained from quitting smoking. The human body is a remarkable piece of engineering which can recover (to a certain extent) from years of smoking in a very short period of time. If you're a smoker, you undoubtedly know this. The health benefits of quitting smoking are widely available for view on just about any anti-smoking site. What these sites often fail to cover is the real, practical benefits of quitting smoking. As a former smoker myself, I shall explain in this article how a cessation of smoking pragmatically improved my life.
The major problem that quitting smoking fixed up for me was my awful habit of procrastinating. For years I had become increasingly idle, and I almost solely place the finger of guilt at my former smoking habit. Taking in 40 cigarettes a day for 10 years clogged up my lungs to the extent that I felt like I permanently lived with a plastic bag over my head. Being always short of breath and having little muscle power, I would find myself lazing around more than I would being proactive.
After packing in cigarettes, my lung capabilities returned and my energy levels soared. As a result, I was able to exercise strenuously again, getting into the best shape of my life. To this degree, I saw a massive lift in my self-esteem and confidence. This domino effect continued, as the self-esteem and confidence saw me winning the attention of the opposite sex, as well as improving my networking capabilities with colleagues in my work industry.
Then there was the financial gain. One of the major benefits of quitting smoking is actually seeing money appear in your wallet again. I made a vow that I would set aside £9 (approximately the cost of two packets of cigarettes) in my desk drawer for every day I managed to stay a non-smoker. I was quite astonished to see how quickly the cash piled up, and by the end of the month I was nearly £300 better off. After two months of not smoking, I had enough saved money for a holiday.
Finally, there was the sheer liberation from the fear that cigarettes generated. I no longer felt panicked about being down to my last couple of cigarettes. I ceased to be anxious in bars without a packet with me. I didn't have to travel to the all-night store at 2am in heavy rain to get a fresh pack for consumption in the morning. This experience was like having a 200 lbs weight lifted from my shoulders, and is easily one of the greatest benefits of quitting smoking.
In conclusion, you should really look at what you can gain on a practical level by quitting cigarettes. There is too much emphasis on the health angle and, sadly, health alone is not enough of a motivator to many smokers who have already decided to take that gamble. Quitting smoking gives you release, a liberation and the restoration of many fabulous physical and mental facilities. Ask how these benefits can directly affect your quality of life, and then make the firm decision to take action to quit.
The Easy Way To Quit Smoking
The question on every smoker's yellowing lip will always be "Is there an easy way to quit smoking?" The instant answer to that would be yes, as there is a mountain of anecdotal evidence to suggest it is possible. There are millions of smokers who can testify that they packed in a long-term habit overnight, and never desired another cigarette again. The real question then, is how did they do it?
The answer is simple: if you wish to quit smoking easily, then you need to change your mindset. After years of smoking, your brain will be configured to believe that smoking is an integral part of you. As a former smoker myself, I know full well just how emotionally connected the smoker is to the cigarette, and this is something non-smokers often overlook. It's not just a question of willpower - it's about being able to sever the emotional links we have with the habit.
The fact is that nicotine is one of the least physically addictive drug substances out there. We can sleep for eight hours every night without our body waking us up in a cold sweat to smoke. Although this sounds like a big claim to make, the amount of anecdotal evidence mentioned earlier should be testament to this. The smoking habit is not the nicotine habit - it is the psychologically addictive habit.
The easy way to quit smoking is to shake up the beliefs you associate with smoking. It's not enough to simply say it's bad for your health, because that is a rational fact. Smoking breeds irrational, emotional attachments, and it is those attachments which you have to perceive in a different way. No smoker is going to argue that smoking is good for their health, but many will claim that a cigarette helps them relax. Do you see the difference? Smokers have more irrational beliefs than they would think.
This calls upon a great deal of introspection. Head to the pub with a notepad and pen and start writing about how you feel about smoking. Compare smoking to a girlfriend or boyfriend, if you will, because that's the level of emotional attachment most smokers will feel towards the habit. Start assessing how you feel about smoking and make a list of all the positives you feel smoking brings to your life. Then try to detach yourself and question these "positives".
Ultimately, if you want an easy way to stop smoking, then you need to realise that all that is really required is the re-wiring of your brain. You do not need gum, patches or any other gimmick. Such gimmicks only give you relief from the physical pain, but give almost nothing to soothe the emotional pain. You need to beat both the physical attachment and, particularly, the emotional attachment. If you can change the way you think about smoking, then you've taken a major step forward in your quest to kick the habit for good.
Quit Smoking Cold Turkey
To quit smoking cold turkey is really a fantasy in the mind of most smokers. I should know, I used to smoke two packs a day. The idea of stopping smoking cold turkey "just like that" was a dream I entertained, usually when I was smoking. But is it a realistic prospect?
As a former smoker, I would have to say that to quit smoking cold turkey is completely unadvisable. Something that non-smokers fail to understand is the extent to which smokers develop an emotional attachment with their habit. When I smoked, cigarettes seemed to fill the hole of just about every emotion for me. If I was anxious, I would smoke. If I was ecstatic, I would smoke. If I was bored, I would smoke. If I drank, I would smoke. Cigarettes weren't just a habit - they were an extension of me.
I believe that is something many smokers can empathise with. Non-smokers see it as just a habit, whereas smokers are well-aware that cigarettes have become part of their identity. It's not just a simple case of stopping a habit…it's a case of slicing off a limb. It's like one is saying goodbye to an old friend, feeling they will never be quite the same again.
So with this in mind, it seems like a monumental task to quit smoking cold turkey. It's like breaking up with a boyfriend or girlfriend you have a deep love/hate relationship with, but then having that same partner move in next door to you. You have to live with the knowledge that this partner, with whom you shared such a deep relationship, is just around the corner. To quit smoking cold turkey is like being told "Okay, now avoid thinking about your ex and under no circumstances knock on her door."
If we could all quit smoking cold turkey without any kickbacks, then we would do so. According to non-smokers, it's simply a question of willpower. But it is far, far more than that. Willpower is just about having the mental fortitude to get through the day and to "suck it up". Quitting smoking has more emotional gravitas than that. Rather than simply getting through the day, it's about being able to let go. It's about being able to make your peace with the habit and wave it farewell.
Millions of people manage to quit smoking cold turkey, but I have no doubt the vast majority of them are haunted by smoking for the rest of their lives, just as we would be by our ex-partner living next door to us. If you wish to quit smoking cold turkey, simply ensure that you are changing your mindset while you're at it. You have to fall out of love with smoking, you have to know why it's a bad habit, you have to know why you don't need it, you have to know why it's not a part of you. You need to answer all these questions to quit the habit for good, and ensure that being an ex-smoker isn't a day-to-day battle for the years to come.
The major problem that quitting smoking fixed up for me was my awful habit of procrastinating. For years I had become increasingly idle, and I almost solely place the finger of guilt at my former smoking habit. Taking in 40 cigarettes a day for 10 years clogged up my lungs to the extent that I felt like I permanently lived with a plastic bag over my head. Being always short of breath and having little muscle power, I would find myself lazing around more than I would being proactive.
After packing in cigarettes, my lung capabilities returned and my energy levels soared. As a result, I was able to exercise strenuously again, getting into the best shape of my life. To this degree, I saw a massive lift in my self-esteem and confidence. This domino effect continued, as the self-esteem and confidence saw me winning the attention of the opposite sex, as well as improving my networking capabilities with colleagues in my work industry.
Then there was the financial gain. One of the major benefits of quitting smoking is actually seeing money appear in your wallet again. I made a vow that I would set aside £9 (approximately the cost of two packets of cigarettes) in my desk drawer for every day I managed to stay a non-smoker. I was quite astonished to see how quickly the cash piled up, and by the end of the month I was nearly £300 better off. After two months of not smoking, I had enough saved money for a holiday.
Finally, there was the sheer liberation from the fear that cigarettes generated. I no longer felt panicked about being down to my last couple of cigarettes. I ceased to be anxious in bars without a packet with me. I didn't have to travel to the all-night store at 2am in heavy rain to get a fresh pack for consumption in the morning. This experience was like having a 200 lbs weight lifted from my shoulders, and is easily one of the greatest benefits of quitting smoking.
In conclusion, you should really look at what you can gain on a practical level by quitting cigarettes. There is too much emphasis on the health angle and, sadly, health alone is not enough of a motivator to many smokers who have already decided to take that gamble. Quitting smoking gives you release, a liberation and the restoration of many fabulous physical and mental facilities. Ask how these benefits can directly affect your quality of life, and then make the firm decision to take action to quit.
The Easy Way To Quit Smoking
The question on every smoker's yellowing lip will always be "Is there an easy way to quit smoking?" The instant answer to that would be yes, as there is a mountain of anecdotal evidence to suggest it is possible. There are millions of smokers who can testify that they packed in a long-term habit overnight, and never desired another cigarette again. The real question then, is how did they do it?
The answer is simple: if you wish to quit smoking easily, then you need to change your mindset. After years of smoking, your brain will be configured to believe that smoking is an integral part of you. As a former smoker myself, I know full well just how emotionally connected the smoker is to the cigarette, and this is something non-smokers often overlook. It's not just a question of willpower - it's about being able to sever the emotional links we have with the habit.
The fact is that nicotine is one of the least physically addictive drug substances out there. We can sleep for eight hours every night without our body waking us up in a cold sweat to smoke. Although this sounds like a big claim to make, the amount of anecdotal evidence mentioned earlier should be testament to this. The smoking habit is not the nicotine habit - it is the psychologically addictive habit.
The easy way to quit smoking is to shake up the beliefs you associate with smoking. It's not enough to simply say it's bad for your health, because that is a rational fact. Smoking breeds irrational, emotional attachments, and it is those attachments which you have to perceive in a different way. No smoker is going to argue that smoking is good for their health, but many will claim that a cigarette helps them relax. Do you see the difference? Smokers have more irrational beliefs than they would think.
This calls upon a great deal of introspection. Head to the pub with a notepad and pen and start writing about how you feel about smoking. Compare smoking to a girlfriend or boyfriend, if you will, because that's the level of emotional attachment most smokers will feel towards the habit. Start assessing how you feel about smoking and make a list of all the positives you feel smoking brings to your life. Then try to detach yourself and question these "positives".
Ultimately, if you want an easy way to stop smoking, then you need to realise that all that is really required is the re-wiring of your brain. You do not need gum, patches or any other gimmick. Such gimmicks only give you relief from the physical pain, but give almost nothing to soothe the emotional pain. You need to beat both the physical attachment and, particularly, the emotional attachment. If you can change the way you think about smoking, then you've taken a major step forward in your quest to kick the habit for good.
Quit Smoking Cold Turkey
To quit smoking cold turkey is really a fantasy in the mind of most smokers. I should know, I used to smoke two packs a day. The idea of stopping smoking cold turkey "just like that" was a dream I entertained, usually when I was smoking. But is it a realistic prospect?
As a former smoker, I would have to say that to quit smoking cold turkey is completely unadvisable. Something that non-smokers fail to understand is the extent to which smokers develop an emotional attachment with their habit. When I smoked, cigarettes seemed to fill the hole of just about every emotion for me. If I was anxious, I would smoke. If I was ecstatic, I would smoke. If I was bored, I would smoke. If I drank, I would smoke. Cigarettes weren't just a habit - they were an extension of me.
I believe that is something many smokers can empathise with. Non-smokers see it as just a habit, whereas smokers are well-aware that cigarettes have become part of their identity. It's not just a simple case of stopping a habit…it's a case of slicing off a limb. It's like one is saying goodbye to an old friend, feeling they will never be quite the same again.
So with this in mind, it seems like a monumental task to quit smoking cold turkey. It's like breaking up with a boyfriend or girlfriend you have a deep love/hate relationship with, but then having that same partner move in next door to you. You have to live with the knowledge that this partner, with whom you shared such a deep relationship, is just around the corner. To quit smoking cold turkey is like being told "Okay, now avoid thinking about your ex and under no circumstances knock on her door."
If we could all quit smoking cold turkey without any kickbacks, then we would do so. According to non-smokers, it's simply a question of willpower. But it is far, far more than that. Willpower is just about having the mental fortitude to get through the day and to "suck it up". Quitting smoking has more emotional gravitas than that. Rather than simply getting through the day, it's about being able to let go. It's about being able to make your peace with the habit and wave it farewell.
Millions of people manage to quit smoking cold turkey, but I have no doubt the vast majority of them are haunted by smoking for the rest of their lives, just as we would be by our ex-partner living next door to us. If you wish to quit smoking cold turkey, simply ensure that you are changing your mindset while you're at it. You have to fall out of love with smoking, you have to know why it's a bad habit, you have to know why you don't need it, you have to know why it's not a part of you. You need to answer all these questions to quit the habit for good, and ensure that being an ex-smoker isn't a day-to-day battle for the years to come.