Setting your Goals to Stop Smoking
Goals
When you have decided to set a goal to stop smoking, one of the first things that experts suggest is that you give some thought to why you want to stop smoking. Not all the conventional reasons why doctors say that people shouldn’t smoke – the reason why you, personally, want to stop. Goals should be very specific and should include when and how you will do something in order for it to be most effective.
Then you should set a realistic date for when you will stop. Your “quit” date. Some people choose to quit “cold turkey” on that date, some people prefer to cut down on smoking for a while first. You know yourself better than anyone else.
Experts suggest that the “quit date” that is chosen should not be a on a day that is traditionally very stressful for you, such as a holiday.
Many people find that it is helpful to write down the date they will stop, the details of the plans they have made to support themselves as they are quitting, and the reason or reasons why they want to stop and put them in a place where they will be seen often.
There are other actions that people who are now successful non-smokers have said were helpful to them in quitting. These include:
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Getting rid of all cigarettes, ashtrays, lighters, matches, and anything else that is very closely linked to smoking.
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Getting rid of the lighters in their cars.
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Having their clothes and homes professionally cleaned after they quit.
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Not allowing others to smoke in their home.
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If they have tried to quit before and started again, to make a point to think about those quitting efforts, and what may have contributed to them beginning to smoke again.
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Making a plan to deal with the “tough times.”
Many people find they can be helped greatly through the use of hypnosis and/or Neurolinguistic Programming (NLP) to stop smoking. These extremely powerful techniques can help you set your goals, and/or to understand why you became a smoker in the first place. Having this information has helped many people break addictions - to everything from cocaine to chocolate to nicotine.




