Do you remember learning how to ride a bike? Some people can hop on and just take off; some of us need more practice. But no matter how long the process takes, there's a set of individual skills you have to learn. If you look at riding a bike as mastering a set of skills, it's easy to see how it's done. You learn to:
- Keep your balance
- Use the pedals
- Negotiate obstacles
- Gain confidence by riding with others
Quitting smoking is the same. When you have mastered a few basic skills, you can cruise through your quit - pedaling hard on the uphill, coasting free on the downhill. It's the ride of your life: enjoy. Here's what you need to do:
Keep Your Balance
- Build a solid quit plan. If you find yourself leaning left into a physical craving, you know what to do to. If you happen to lean the other way, into an old addicted way of thinking, you can snap right back to your center.
- Concentrate on the current moment. You can lose your balance at first by looking too far down the road. Think about quitting in this moment, right now, nothing more.
Use the Pedals
- Every day, take a minute to focus on what drives your quit forward. Picture your goals getting closer as you move toward them on the road ahead.
- Every day, remember the nasty business of smoking that you are emerging from. Watch all that mess fall behind you as you master your quit.
Negotiate Obstacles
- You know how to keep an eye on the road ahead. You have a plan for dealing with situations where you used to smoke - that's your balance. but what about the whammy trigger that attacks out of nowhere? Ah yes, here it is - your emergency response kit. Take a peek into the quit kit of others, then put together your own. Maybe a nice "smile and back away," a call to a quit buddy, or a tasty straw stick to chew on.
- Keep your Emergency Response Kit in your bike basket at all times. Don't be afraid to use it.
That's all there is to it - your successful quit is a few simple skills away. Come ride the road to smoking freedom with us!
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