What, if I told you that your best chances of quitting smoking cold turkey was to actually keep smoking, but in a very different way, it sounds a little bit silly I know, but let me explain a lot of the people that I see that come to me, asking them to help them to stop smoking. They say, I just, I just wanna, I just want to quit. I don’t want anyone to think about it and that works for some people, but the majority of the time, the people I see, haven’t prepared themselves in order to become a non-smoker really what a lot of people that I see get wrong is is you are never going to quit smoking until you start seeing yourself as a non-smoking person. One of the main reasons why a lot of people fail to quit, um, they think that if the cigarettes are over there and they carry on living the life, the way that they would as a smoker, then there’ll be fine.

Some people lost a day or week, three weeks, six months, a year, five years when the stars align, eventually those cigarettes will come back in. I’m going to give you seven really quick tips that I’ve collected over the years in helping people to stop smoking. Um, and what I think are probably the most useful, the most evidence-based giving you the best chance to stop smoking permanently and successfully. So let’s get into it. So number one is set a quit date. Now I’m sure you’ve probably seen this in a lot of places. It’s very common knowledge, but in a 2010 research study, they found that out of 283 smokers that over two thirds of them were actually engaged in a successful quit attempt within the first month of setting their quit date. And the rest of them were unable to actually set a successful date to quit smoking.

Um, so what they found is in, in this study is that it’s way more, um, effective to actually set a time and a date that is specific, measurable, and also realistic to you. Cause it’s sometimes not very realistic. And I very often I find that people will say, okay, um, I had a really big smoking night tomorrow or last night and tomorrow morning, I’m just going to stop smoking. I’m just going to completely do it. How many times has that honestly worked for you? So on new year’s new year’s day is a very common one. I get, you know, new year’s day, I’m going to smoke myself to death on new year’s Eve and then new year’s day. That’s it I’m done. We might last January, but February where backups smoking again. So what I mean by setting a specific date, a date that is reasonable for you.

Um, if you know, if you’re sitting there and you go, Hey, I know I’m not ready to quit smoking tomorrow, then why would we set the date for you to quit smoking tomorrow? It’s not going to work. It’s not going to happen. It’s only going to lead you up for disappointment and be specific. So let’s say Saturday morning, 9:00 AM. I wake up and Saturday morning on February the 18th. And that is the exact time and exact day that I stopped smoking. We make an event of it. That is what’s going to happen. And when I actually see clients, usually the quick date is the date that we have our stop smoking session together. So number one is set a really specific, realistic stop smoking date that works for you. Number two is set your goals, your values and your rewards. Now goals is a bit of a funny one because I know that the goal is to be a non-smoker.

That is the overarching goal. But within that, there are small little goals as well. What other goals do you have when you start smoking? What will stop smoking give you specifically? Cause I could sit here all day and saying, stopping smoking is bad for you. Um, it’s good for you. It’s not definitely not bad for you. It causes lung cancer and it causes terrible diseases. And it’s gonna take off many years of your life. I could tell you that in I’m blue in your face, and yet you’re continuing to smoke, but what is most important is why is it important to you? Why are you stopping smoking perhaps it’s for your children or perhaps it’s for seeing a grandchild or living long enough to be able to see a grandchild or perhaps it’s a financial goal. I want to save 200 pounds plus a month in order to save for a holiday that I’d always wanted to go on. So these are examples of specific goals that you can write down. And I usually say, write down about three, write down about three goals. You say, okay,

Stopping smoking, obviously,

But this, that, and that are other reasons why I want to stop smoking values. Values are a really odd one and one that sometimes people struggle with and rightly so values are things that we associate ourselves with regardless of whatever happens. What I mean by that is if we lost our house or we lost, um, everything that we own, we still connect to these values, whatever they may be. So a value may be honesty or a value. Maybe your family or a value may be your resilience. What makes you, you? And it might seem a little bit of a holler, man. It wouldn’t stop in smoking here, but very often when we smoke, we abandoned these values or release, put them on hold and we very often don’t connect with them. So having these goals and these values and setting them out a very useful foundation and finally is your

Rewards rewards are also very important.

Again, I’m stopping smoking and the reward is health and long life and, and breathing better and being able to exercise better. But what are the rules, wards that are specific to you? What do you get, do you get to go on that holiday in new Yorker next year that you can, you can say for, do you get to put some pocket money away that you would have spent on your children and for your children to, to start a college fund for your children. These are examples of this small little rewards that you can get, um, from stopping smoking and you can just list them out. Um, sometimes people have hundreds of bonds. People have one. This is where the one reward that I can give myself. And I’ve found that these three things are extremely useful. Um, in order to create that foundation of becoming a non-smoker, the three is becoming aware of our smoking trap just by lightly increasing our awareness of when we smoke is a really useful tool into start identifying why it is that we’re doing and what is happening at what points in the day am I smoking more at what points in the day am I smoking less?

All of this is useful information to us to say, okay,

Okay, this is, this is

Part of my smoking trap. This is what I do. So we don’t want to avoid anymore. We just want to become aware. So don’t try and stop yourself from smoking. Just notice when it is that you are smoking, I’m going to have a cigarette. And wow. I notice I’m having it at five past 11 and I’m feeling quite nervous. I’m feeling quite overwhelmed today. Um, our, again, you don’t have one at six in the evening. I mean, think about it. It just happened. And then just sort of try and increase your awareness of what’s happening in your body at the time as you’re doing it. Do you have a slight headache or is your mouth salivating or how are you behaving in that moment? Are you feeling particularly nervous or you fidgeting a lot? Um, are you restless or you can’t? Are you sitting on the sofa, watching TV be curious about when it is that you decide to light the cigarette?

So number three, increase your awareness of why and how it is that you’re smoking throughout the day. Number four, exposing, uh, triggers. So very often, um, in the smoking world or the smoking cessation world, I see a lot of, um, avoid, avoid, avoid, avoid your triggers. When we avoid something, usually it gets louder and louder and louder in our mind, and it might work for some time, but eventually we’ll probably replace it either for something else that’s not good for us. Or we will end up going back to it because we that’s a solution to our problem. Often triggers are emotional, social, um, ritualistic or withdrawal related. It’s emotional might be I’m feeling stressed. So I need a cigarette. Social might be I’m going to the pub, um, or I’m chatting on the phone. And that is now what a trigger for. This is when I will smoke a cigarette.

A ritualistic is, is this the time when I smoke a cigarette? It’s the morning, it’s 9:00 AM in the morning. And I always have a cigarette at 9:00 AM in the morning. That is another example of a trigger that we have and a withdrawal trigger, which is ones that people have the most difficult time with. Is that feeling of, okay, nicotine is leaving my body. Now it’s leaving my body and the uncomfortable feelings start rising and the brain knocks on the door and it says time for a cigarette. And then we smoke a cigarette that varies, um, withdrawal triggers vary for each person. What are some of these triggers? So drinking alcohol, um, withdrawal, pangs, um, being around other smokers after a meal, taking a work break, boredom, stress, anxiety. These are all examples of really common triggers. The way that it usually pans out is as a, there’s a trigger that happens.

So the trigger might be, for example, I’m going for a drink. And then that will lead to a bodily event. So something happens in the body that reminds the, the, the self of this is cigarette time. Um, so a Bali event might be something like, I feel a little bit restless. I’m a little bit nervous. And you start moving around a little bit when you’re out for the drink with your friends, and then this will then fuel the urge and the urge will be that thought or that feeling of just, I just need a cigarette right now. And then that will then eventually lead to smoking. So yeah, this is an example of, of how a trigger, um, formulates in, in our bodies is as we go throughout the day, I’d like you to list as many triggers as you can. So all the triggers that you have, all the triggers that you think you have, or even the ones that you think are creep up on you, let’s make it a list of what are these triggers? How are they affecting me? Um, when do I do them throughout the day? So give it a go and expose some of your triggers and write some of them down. Number five, tell everyone that you are stopping smoking. And when I say everyone, I mean, everyone tell your partner, tell your mother, tell your father, tell your ex, tell your gardener, tell your pet, um, your dog or cat. Tell everyone, tell everything in your life that you are stopping smoking. There’s

The reason for this is, is there’s a few reasons.

And the main one is you do not have to do this alone. Recruit your assets, recruit people that you love and keep them around you. Because ultimately when they see that you’re serious about this, then they will actually support you that very often, um, by clients will say, I actually go to the shop and I do the people I buy the cigarettes from. I say, I am stopping smoking. And the people in the shop go, okay, like, here’s your, here’s your facts. But the idea of it is that the more people you tell, the more real it becomes for you. It’s a verbal contract between you and other people. And more importantly, you and yourself, you are reinforcing it over and over again. Number six, when smoking, I want you to just smoke, don’t smoke and have a coffee. Don’t smoke. When you’re on the phone, those smoke and drive

Separate positive

Reinforcement with cigarettes. Why is this important? When I smoke a cigarette, I can no longer do it with something that I actually enjoy doing it. Doesn’t it stops the blurring of the lines. Very often people say to me, I’m very funny, very hard stop smoking when I’m having my coffee in the morning. And I say, fantastic, that’s a good example of a trigger, but are you able to drink your coffee, finish the coffee, put the coffee away and then smoke the cigarette. It’s a subtle difference and a very small one, but it really helps remind the smoking trap that is within you to say, okay, I have a coffee and I enjoyed it. And now I smoke. Um, I, um, drove my car. I got to my destination and then I had a cigarette. It removes that positive reinforcement and it makes it much easier when you’re actually stopped smoking. Because when we’re doing that positive reinforcement drink in the coffee, then suddenly it’s less painful for us to realize that we haven’t got a cigarette with it. We’re used to doing it by now. So the more that you’re able to separate smoking with anything positive in your life, the easier it will become. So give it a go. Number seven is

Play, play with it, play with

The idea of being a non-smoker. Those lots of the evidences suggest that if we take things really seriously, or we, we think is a chore, then we’re less likely to do it. The stopping smoking can be a fun and engaging thing for you to do because in a way we’re not giving up smoking at all, what rather you are giving back something to your life that you used to have, where you want to have. Um, and that’s the fun and exciting process and may not feel it a lot at the time. And I’m not saying that it’s the most enjoyable thing in the world to do, but play with it, play with the idea of, of having a coffee and, and, and spoken afterwards and, and enjoy the process and, and see what works for you. Um, there’s no right, and there’s no wrong. There’s only your process not taking your, your driving test.

You know, how many people actually enjoy taking the driving test, but then it wasn’t until you actually got your own car. And he started driving and he started to enjoy driving. Um, when we, it has to be something that we have to do, we very often don’t like it, but when we’re free and we’re able to do it and it’s our own car and we can drive it wherever we like, and we can play with it. Suddenly we start to enjoy the process. So the very same thing is with smoking, find ways that you feel that you can enjoy the process of stopping smoking. So I hope you enjoyed these really quick, uh, seven tips to preparing, to become a non-smoker. Um, I really hope that you got something from this. And, um, even if you knew most of it, I hope there’s one or two things that you realize, okay, maybe I’ll give that a go. Remember the goal isn’t to just stop smoking after this is to give you an easier ride. Um, and it removes a lot of that pressure and a lot of that, that guilt about smoking. And for me to let you know that, you know, it’s

A difficult thing to do. So give yourself some space

To preparing yourself, to embody the non-smoking self. And I’d love to hear about how you get on. Um, so you’re more than welcome to, to leave me a comment or contact me. And I’m always happy to give, um, any advice I can. So thank you very much, and I hope you gained something from this and good luck in preparing to become a non-smoker you soon.