I am just an ordinary guy that happened to make the bad decision to start smoking at an early age. I smoked cigarettes for over 15 years. If I can quit smoking, so can you. You don't need any crutches like the nicotine gums or anything else. You can and should do it cold turkey!
First and foremost, if you want to quit smoking, you have to WANT to quit.. If you do not want to quit, then you will not be successful. Quitting smoking could possibly be the best thing you could ever do for yourself. The benefits of quitting smoking are astronomical.
Your health will improve greatly, you will save a ton of money and food tastes so much better.
The most important thing to remember and I can't stress this enough is that you have to be ready. You have to be up to the challenge. You are in control, not the cigarettes. My plan was simple and I did not want to smoke any longer. I had a family that I wanted to be around for. When I put some thought into it, it seemed almost silly to be paying so much to lessen your life.
It is important to have the correct mindset. I have already said that you have to be ready but you must convince yourself that you are going to overcome cigarettes. You must be positive and know that your are in control. Take everyday just like the first. When you wake up, be positive. When you have not had a cigarette for four days, It would not make any sense to ruin those four days and start all over, after four days the worst part is over and it's all down hill. Four days without a cigarette is quite an accomplishment and by this time the physical part of the addiction is over. Your body no longer needs nicotine. From this point on it's all psychological.
What no one seems to understand is that it's not that hard. As a society we are told that cigarettes are so addictive and they are one of the hardest things to put down and quit. This is the wrong way to think about it, In fact quitting smoking is easy. It's not that difficult at all. If I had to compare it to anything, I would say that it is no worse that having the common cold. Sure you will be irritable and cranky but everyday that you go without a cigarette takes you one day closer your goal of never smoking again and it really isn't that bad. How many colds have you made it through? Every single one right? Well you can quit smoking too!
When make the decision to quit, make sure you give yourself a few days away from the office or job. I would suggest stopping on a Friday evening and here is how I did it. I purchased my last package of cigarettes on Friday. I smoked them all throughout the day, except for one. This last cigarette would be my friend. It would console me when the craving was at it's strongest. That evening before going to bed, I lit my last cigarette knowing in my mind that I was finished with them, that I was now in control. Here is where that last cigarette come into play. Instead of finishing my last cigarette, I only smoke half of it. I put it out and stuffed the half smoked cigarette back into the empty cigarette package. It was going to be with me for about two weeks and it was.
I took that pack of cigarettes with me everywhere. When the urge to smoke was at it's strongest, I would take out that lonely half of a cigarette and put it to my lips and pretend to smoke it. The taste of this half burnt cigarette satisfied my urges when they were at their peak. I used this method for about 8 days. On the 99th day when the urge to smoke reared it's ugly head, I took out that lonely half burnt cigarette that I had been carrying around with me for the past eight days. I looked at this pathetically disgusting thing and realized that I no longer had any desire to put that wretched half smoked cigarette to my lips. It was foul and it smelled really bad. I thought to myself, this is how cigarettes have smelt all along. From that point, I never smoked again. That was over ten years ago. I did it, so can you.
With the extra money I was saving, I was able to get a new car. It was a reward to myself. I also started to notice little things. Outside air seemed to smell better. Everything seemed to smell better. I also noticed that when I did get a cold, it only stuck with me for half as long as it did when I had smoked. Make that decision to quit smoking because that is the hardest part.
