If you want to live a long and healthy life but are a smoker, you should seriously consider quitting. Not easy to quit, you say? True, but if you follow these tips faithfully, you should be able to stop smoking for good fairly quickly.

The mind has two parts: the conscious and subconscious. You might want to stop smoking because it is bad for your health (conscious reason), but you still want to smoke because smoking makes you feel good about yourself (subconscious reason).

However, if you have decided to quit for the sake of your family, friends and loved ones, there is a proper way to do so.

1. First sit down and write down why you want to quit (the benefits of quitting):
Live longer, feel healthy, for your family’s sake, save money, smell better, whiter teeth, find a mate more easily, etc.
You know the damages that smoking can bring and you know what you will get by quitting. Put it on paper and read it daily to remind yourself to quit.

2. Ask your family and friends to support your decision to quit.
Most of your family members and friends will probably be very supportive of your decision. Ask them to be non-judgemental and prepare them to help you out with your withdrawal syndrome. You might get irritable and even irrational while you withdraw from your smoking habit.

3. Set a date. Decide in advance what day you will smoke your last cigarette and stick by it.

4. Talk to someone who had successfully quit smoking. Support and guidance from someone you can totally relate to is a proven way to better your chances to quit.

5. Begin an exercise program. Exercise relieves stress and helps your body recover from years of damage from cigarettes.

6. Do some deep breathing each day for 3 to 5 minutes. Breathe in through your nose very slowly, hold the breath for a few seconds, and exhale very slowly through your mouth.

7. Have your teeth cleaned and use mouthwash everyday. Enjoy the way your teeth look and feel and plan to keep them that way.

8. Drink lots of water. Water is good for you anyway, and most people don’t get enough. It will help flush the nicotine and other chemicals out of your body,

9. Eat pharmacy-approved gum or sugar free sweets. They can help reduce cravings by fulfilling the “oral desires” that you may have.

10. Learn what triggers your desire for a cigarette. Usually stress, the end of a meal, entering a bar, drink companions etc are the reasons why people smoke.
Avoid these triggers or if that’s impossible, plan alternative ways to deal with the triggers.

11. Find something to hold in your hand and mouth to replace cigarettes. Studies have shown that smokers cultivate the habit of smoking gestures and will feel uneasy when they stop doing it. Thus, you might try using artificial cigarette (made of sweets or chocolate), lollipop or ice cream.

12. Have strong determination and believe in yourself. Believe that you can quit. Think about some of the most difficult things you have done in your life and realize that you have what it takes to quit smoking.

13. Reward yourself once you had succeeded. Buy yourself a new handphone, shoes, bag, or treat yourself to a sumptuous meal. This will sweeten the deal and spur you to stay away from cigarettes for good.

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