Posts Tagged ‘health and fitness – 50+’
To Successfully Quit Smoking, You Need a Multi-legged Stool
Tried to think of a stranger title, but I just couldn’t come up with one. The important thing is that it got your attention.
Support is the one tool that you want to be multi-legged as it is one of your strongest allies in the battle to quit smoking. Think about it. What if your kitchen stools only had one leg on them for support. Do you think it would make sitting down for dinner that much more difficult? Sure it would. You wouldn’t be able to eat in comfort because all your time would be spent concentrating on not falling over.
Would adding a second leg help? Of course. By concentrating on a stool that only moves side to side or back and forth, our attentions can be more focused on the goal we are seeking to accomplish.
How about a third leg? Is that any better? You bet – perfect stability. With this surefootedness we can focus all our attention on our task as we no longer have to worry about ending up on the floor if our concentration slips.
So what’s the point I am trying to make? A very simple one actually. By enlisting the help of support friends (legs) the efforts of quitting smoking won’t fall solely on you. There will be a couple of other friends there to assist you. Even four or five buddies to call on would not be excessive.
The important think to ask of the people whom you confide in for support is to ask that they remain at your disposal and not badger you with questions like ‘How is it going?’ everyday. You don’t want your support team to be a hindrance in trying to reach your goals, but a help. And one other thing. If you the courage to do it, make a deal with them and yourself in that if you ever decide you may want to have ‘just one’ cigarette that you MUST call each and every one of them and tell them you’ve decided to continue smoking. Make it through all your support ‘legs’ without being talked out of doing something silly like that and I would be quite surprised.
FREEDOM from the cigarette will come once you’ve made up your mind and enlisted all the tools you can find, including the multi-legged support system.
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Tips for Quitting Smoking
If you want to quit smoking – and truly quit, not just have it as some passing fancy – you must hold yourself accountable not only to yourself but others as well. The nicotine beast, other smokers and your subconscious can all be very persuasive threats on the road to quitting so this is why I so firmly advocate a solid support group of at least two or three other people. Five is even better.
Here the numbers are important because it is that much more difficult to get past five persons to succumb to an overwhelming urge strikes than it is to convince just one person ” yourself.
Being accountable to others in the group
Actually, its all about holding yourself accountable to others. If you have been off cigarettes for one week and then your mind comes up with some silly reason that you need a smoke. It will very cleverly convince all the dissenting voices trying to remind you of your resolve so that you become weak and break down before the urge and take a smoke.
However, if you had five loyal soldiers standing between the nicotine demon and you, it will be entirely different story.
The process
Set up a small support group for yourself whether it be via email, telephone, or a support forum. Tell these people your goal to quit smoking but also ask them not to pester you about it – just to be there when you need help and positive support. Use them for encouragement.
Now, with a support group in place, when you again encounter an overwhelming urge to smoke, you will have to get past not just your own guilty conscience, but you have to call these five people and tell them that you have decided to start smoking again.
If you can do this much, you need not do anything else. They will do the talking and you just have to sit back and listen without getting angry or upset. Chances are that they will talk you out of your momentary weakness and encourage you to stick to your resolve. And it may not even take all five voices to convince you. However, if you can make it through all five members of your support team and you still think that you can do with just ‘one’ cigarette, then you must know that it is not just one ” it is always the first one that will get you.
The support system works because you have to fight six sane voices against the ‘one’.
As I say, the more you know about quitting, the more successful you will be. So get all the information you need BEFORE you try to quit. It’s much easier, believe me.
To your success,
Darren Warmuth
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