You have decided that is that. You are going to stop smoking! There are few things that typically happen from here and you might choose one of the following:
- You have convinced yourself to vape because that’s much healthier than smoking
- You have gone and bought Nicorette chewing gum
- Or you just stopping
In this post, I am going to share an area that is always overlooked when changing habits. It is the same important thing that gets overlooked for instance when most people try to lose weight, your MIND! I am also going to share how I was able to stop smoking and I had been smoking for 24 years. Let us get into it…
The back story
Now let me be clear, I am not saying that I had not tried before to stop smoking. I had tried many, many times before and failed. In this post I want to focus more on how I succeeded than why I failed in the past. The main reason everyone fails at changing a habit like smoking or drinking is because they do it from a place of motivation alone. Do not get me wrong motivation is great but it does run out so you cannot only rely on this.
Now let me be clear, I am not saying that I had not tried before to stop smoking. I had tried many, many times before and failed. In this post I want to focus more on how I succeeded than why I failed in the past. The main reason everyone fails at changing a habit like smoking or drinking is because they do it from a place of motivation alone. Do not get me wrong motivation is great but it does run out so you cannot only rely on this.
The key to stop smoking
The key to any change is your mind and your thoughts. In fact, as I investigated this more you start realizing that everything starts with the mind and thought, not just changing habits. I was fortunate that I journaled every day, so I was able to go back to my notes. Journaling is another topic I will post about but I want to encourage you to take this on as a daily routine because there are so many benefits. The benefits in this instance were I was able to go back and remind myself of exactly what I did and what I was focusing on at the time.
When you realize that everything starts with your mind and your thoughts it’s very empowering because you then realize that you can change any habit. Like riding a bicycle, you can learn techniques that will assist you through the process.
The 3 key things that I did to stop smoking were:
- Have a good enough Reason
- Make a Decision
- Do something about it, take Action
Let us have a look at the 3 steps to stop smoking:
Have a good enough Reason
You need to have a good enough reason. I had a few reasons and one of them was my daughter. I felt like a hypocrite saying that you can be and doing anything you want in life knowing full well I was not being a fitting example of that.
The next was we were away in December in Sabi, and I found out that a family member was ill which really scared me. It made me think of how we take our health for granted and this just gave me another reason to stop.
Make a Decision
This part might sound obvious but let me explain. You see we decide, but do we really decide? Many times, we decide but there are a whole bunch of exit clauses like, I will just vape for a while, I will only smoke when I have a few drinks etc.
The one big reason I was able to stop was I decided with no exit clauses! I was going to stop completely and that was the decision, no if’s or but’s. I was going to stop no matter what, the DECISION was made!
Do something about it, take Action
This is the critical part because the action I took was specific. The decision I took was to learn and understand better how we make decisions and think (mindset). You can have all the will power in the world and take massive action, but I promise you until you change your thinking and thoughts (mindset) the likelihood of success is low.
I do not mean to be negative but to be realistic. It is the same dynamics as losing weight, the main reason people fail is they do not work on their minds and that at the end of the day is the driving force behind success or failure!
So, the action I took was extremely specific, I focused on my mindset. As an example, I had to change limiting beliefs like:
It is just one drag!
I am incredibly stressed now, and it helps me relax which is good for me…
I deserve it…
It is not that bad…
Once I had changed these beliefs which again is mindset it became a lot easier because you cannot just rely on will power. The reality is will power does not last, that is why you do not last trying to change a habit usually.
Conclusion
Trying to change any habit comes down to the same things. There are variations of techniques and strategies, but the common thread is always the mindset. You can ignore or say it is not important, but the reality is it either works for you or against you. I would suggest watching this masterclass of Robin Sharma which is very helpful!
Please leave your comments below. Or you have a success story and a different strategy you used?
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