Struggles:
Most individuals may agree that the prospect of quitting smoking is daunting. It’s not simple to give up the comfort that smoking can provide, and it’s not something that can be done overnight. When you’re trying to quit, you’ll need to have a lot of honest conversations with yourself and your family. When it comes to quitting smoking, there are three key challenges you will face. Being fully aware of these challenges will aid you in developing a plan to permanently stop smoking that will enable you to overcome these obstacles and emerge in better health as a non-smoker.
Struggle 1: The first battle will find you staring temptation dead in the eyes. There are no other words to describe it. Cigarettes, cigarettes, and more cigarettes can be found everywhere. The number of smokers is staggering, and when you’re attempting to quit, it can feel like the number is quadrupling all around you. Even if it’s just your mind playing tricks on you, it might be difficult to ignore all of the temptations and adhere to your quit-smoking strategy.
If you find yourself overwhelmed by temptation, take a step back. If you can’t just walk away from your job, you’ll need to build a stress-relieving approach that will allow you to ignore the cigarettes that you see. To truly assist you to avoid temptation, seek out a location where you can eat your lunch away from smokers and other temptations. Always be on the watch because cigarettes are everywhere, and if you fall off the waggon, they’ll be right there to tempt you back into smoking.
Struggle 2: The second challenge you’ll have is dealing with all of the questions you’ll be asked. Of course, your friends and family are delighted that you have decided to stop smoking. Everyone will, however, inquire as to why. After the third time, you’re asked why this simple query becomes a major issue. Rather than allowing this tiny question to start eating at your resolve, you need to ensure you are dedicated to quitting. Rather than letting this small question gnaw away at your determination, make sure you’re 100% committed to stopping.
If you find yourself second-guessing your decision to stop every time someone asks why you’re quitting, it’s time to sit down and have a good talk with yourself.
You will not achieve success in quitting until you are personally invested 100 per cent in your efforts. You must believe in your motivation for stopping smoking.
Whatever causes you to select, your family will be there for you. You must persuade yourself, which necessitates a well-thought-out argument and rationale. Nobody will ever argue with you as much as you will. When you try to do something difficult like quit smoking, the nagging side of yourself comes out in full force.
Struggle 3: There are so many options to quit and this in itself can be a real struggle. Evaluate all of the products available to assist you in quitting smoking. This may appear weird, but the large selection might be a major issue. To choose the finest product for your wish to quit smoking, you must first figure out why you smoke. If you smoke as a result of stress, you must address the source of the stress. If you smoke because you’re addicted to nicotine, you should consider utilising a patch or gum to gradually wean yourself off of it.
Whatever your motive for smoking, there is a product that can assist you. It is not hard to choose the greatest product for your unique needs, but it will require you to be brutally honest with yourself. If you can’t figure out why you smoke, try doing something else with your hands and lips whenever you feel the want to smoke. A stress ball and a bit of gum, for example, may be all you need. If you’re smoking because you’re bored, give yourself something to do, even if it’s simply squeezing a stress ball, and you’ll be a successful non-smoker in no time.
Ways to Quit Smoking
To help you out, here is a list of different ways to help you quit smoking:
1. Willpower – 90% of people who try to quit, do it this way, however sadly, not everyone is able to stick to it and mostly reverts back to smoking after a stressful event, a trigger, a drunken night or just because….
2. Hypnotherapy – this has been proven to be up to 85% effective in helping people stop smoking for good. It is probably also the easiest way to stop as it only takes 1 session and 1 hour. Hypnotherapy works with the subconscious mind and a good therapist will look at weight management concerns, stress triggers, behaviours, emotions and situations that make you want to smoke in order to help you quit.
5. Medication – There are prescription medicines that can help you with cravings and withdrawal symptoms
4. Nicotine Replacement Therapy – There’s such a variety from gum to patches, inhalers, sprays and more. You basically still take in nicotine, but without the smoke. It does however work best when you use it with behavioural therapy and lots of support from friends and family. Usually, people try this method first before settling for hypnotherapy as a last resort. It can also take months to quit using this method.
5. Alan Carr’s Easyway – This is a self-help book to help you quit and can take about 3-6 months.
6. E-Cigarettes – This is an option, although you are still smoking and still taking in nicotine, plus will still have side effects and doesn’t quite change the actual behaviour.
7. Acupuncture -An acupuncturist targets certain areas of the body for your smoking addiction. Pressure points in the ears are especially effective when trying to suppress your cravings. Sessions can take a few months to a few weeks.
6. Combination – Some people suggest that doing a combination of a few of the above-mentioned methods will make it far more effective for quitting.
5 Benefits of Quitting Smoking
The idea to stop smoking might seem really great, but what are you actually going to get out of the process? For many people there are some benefits that are immediately obvious. Of course, your clothes and house will smell a lot better, and if you have been a car smoker, your car will start to smell better as well. However, if you dive beyond these shallow reasons, what can you really expect to gain by quitting? The issues of money and even your health are far greater than any minor smells that cigarettes can give off.
- Money: One of the biggest benefits is the savings of money. Consider that a one pack a day habit can easily rack up a bill of almost £40 a week, £175 a month and finally almost £2100 in a year. This adds up to an enormous amount that is really hard to play down. It is important to be really honest with yourself about how much your cigarettes are costing you, if you are attempting to slash your budget, quitting smoking can go a very long way towards freeing up a lot of money.
- Health: While the money is obviously nice to save, there are huge benefits to your health as well. For example, research tells us that as little as 20 minutes after you stop smoking you will be able to see a difference in your health. If you consider that quitting smoking can help you reduce your risk of heart problems, stroke, high blood pressure, lung cancer, and even breathing complications you have just located a plethora of reasons why smoking really is good to avoid. The research that tells us smoking is bad has proven that just a short period of time after quitting is able to reverse many of the harmful effects that cigarettes have caused, no matter how long you have been a smoker.
- For example, if you quit smoking for a period of 5 years, you are no more at risk of a stroke than someone who has been a non-smoker for their entire life. This is huge considering that those who smoke are considered at least twice as likely to suffer a stroke. Additionally, if you quit for 15 years, you can enjoy the same risk of coronary heart disease as a non-smoker as well. While it might seem strange to enjoy the risk for coronary heart disease, it is much better than actually having coronary heart disease. Taking these small victories for your health is important since you will be able to significantly improve your quality of life.
- Mental Health: Studies suggest that when people stop smoking, their anxiety, depression, and stress levels decrease. The quality of life and positive mood improve.
- Relationships: By quitting you will improve your intimacy with your partner. Not only will you smell so much better, but smoking can also cause sexual health issues like erectile dysfunction for men and shortness of breath for both men and women. Smoking can also cause an effect on your children. They may not like the smell on you, or you may cause harm to their health too, not just yours.
- Physical Health: Smoking can cause you to look older, have a poor skin tone, sagging skin, lines around your lips, age spots, damaged teeth, stained fingers and even cause hair loss. Less oxygen is also delivered to your body’s cells, which means you won’t have as much endurance to perform physical tasks or participate in certain activities or exercises.
Conclusion
Working to decide which benefits are the most motivating for you is not always easy. You need to look at your lifestyle and determine what truly matters for you. Not everyone is concerned about the health benefits, if you find yourself more concerned with the money then focus on what you can save. If you are more determined to improve your health then focus your efforts on the health benefits that stopping smoking for good can really have for you. If you are more focused on the example you are setting for your kids, how you are deteriorating their health or perhaps you are an expecting parent, then do what you can to make those changes Ultimately, the reason you choose to quit smoking is up to you, the way you do it will be based around your particular personality and smoking habits. Knowing what your motivating factors are can go a long way towards boosting willpower though, which is always a helpful benefit no matter why you try to quit.
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