Well Hi guys. Welcome to the group.
Patrick, asand, and jamie... My advice (Take it or leave it) is to make yourself feel accountable. Accountable to yourself AND to others. If you only tell yourself that you are going to quit, then it isn't that big of a deal to say to yourself that you didn't really mean it or I will try again later. But if you have to justify it to others it is a different story.
Make friends here and talk to them. Tell your friends at home. tell spouses and family members. "I am quitting. I will not smoke anymore, I am stronger than this addiction†Then commit. Throw out EVERY ashtray. Get rid of your favorite lighters. I suggest that you do not finish the pack and smoke that last smoke. It makes it feel like the end of Casablanca and the goodbye scene in the train station. It is hard to quit when you ritualistically say goodbye as if you are leaving an old friend. Do you really want that feeling of:
“This is it… It’s all over… I never get to do this again… I miss it already… Oh my gosh all my smokes are gone! I need to go buy more! What am I going to do?â€
I feel it is MUCH less stressful to just wake up on the morning of your quit day and just not start. that way you have already gotten 8 hours of detox taken care of while you slept. (Remember, there are only 72 hours of detox. Then there are no more nicotine withdrawal symptoms) You also get the added benefit of saying that you threw out the last of your smokes and walked away. Not many people get to say that.
Make it a big bad deal to have "Just one†If you falter and have "Just one" don't you dare have it like you are used to. Hold it in your left hand (If you are right handed) while standing on one foot, facing a brick wall, no fiddling with it, just puff and go. Take every old ritual out of it. make it an unenjoyable experience. Then admit it to those people that you told you were quitting. Tell them that you faltered and that you haven’t given up the quit. Not wanting to admit a failure is one more bit of motivation to not have “Just one.
Then remember to enjoy it. It is such a good feeling to know that you are beating this. When you walk past a smoking hut on your way to the office and you see all the people huddling in the cold burning their paychecks and sucking the smoke in so they can die sooner you WILL thank yourself for being strong enough. Every time you look at a calendar and see one more smokeless month has gone by, you will thank yourself.
