When we examine our Values, they can be found within 3 categories:
- What we wish to experience while we’re still on this planet
- How we wish to grow while we are still breathing
- What we wish to contribute to our World
Nicotine like all Addictions compromises those goals! It can’t not! Nicotine sucks away valuable Time. It demands our Focus. It depletes our Energy. It squanders our Money.
ALL for a dopamine hit!
Once we live smoke FREE all that wonderful dopamine is actually pretty easy to replace! There are lots of ways to get dopamine. For EXample:
- Tyrosine rich foods such as bananas, almonds, apples, watermelons, cherries, yogurt, beans, eggs and meats.
- Increase your intake of antioxidants. Dopamine is easy to oxidize, and antioxidants may reduce free radical damage to the brain cells that produce dopamine. Many fruits and vegetables are rich in antioxidants, including
- Beta-carotene and carotenoids: Greens, orange vegetables and fruits, asparagus, broccoli
· - Vitamin C: Peppers, oranges, strawberries, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts
· - Vitamin E: Nuts and sunflower seeds, greens, broccoli, carrots[4]
- Proper sleep
- Exercise
- Reach a new goal. Dopamine is all about pleasure. Luckily, all you have to do is train your brain. Whether it's important to you to walk the dog or finally get that PhD, reaching a new goal will put your pleasure centers into party mode. It doesn't have to be big. Start thinking of your little daily activities as goals. Did you make it through the morning without checking Facebook?! FANTASTIC. Reward time, because that goal has been achieved!
Recovery is all about reclaiming ourselves and with that – our Values! We get all that Time, Focus, Energy and Money back to us, for us to spend on what we decide not what we’re forced to use them on!
Getting from here to there isn’t all that easy ( Sorry Allen Carr!) BUT it is sooooo worth it! We just have to keep in mind that Smoking is no longer an option. I just listed a whole bunch of other options and smoking is nowhere on that list! So what will YOU decide to do instead?
