As anyone who has struggled with a nicotine addiction will tell you, giving up smoking is an incredibly difficult thing to do. Even though we know that it is terrible for our lungs and health in general, the way that smoking seems to serve as a natural kind of punctuation between daily activities can make it extremely hard to leave behind
It requires a massive amount of willpower to break the habit of a lifetime, but to help you reach your goal, we have put together this list of things you can do to dramatically increase your chances of saying goodbye to cigarettes for good – read on to find out more!
1. Try Alternatives
A great way of easing yourself out of your smoking habit is to start to replace cigarettes with other forms of nicotine that are not so harmful to your body. Snus is easy to use and has a distinctive taste makes for a pleasant experience. You can use it at any time of the day, and it makes a brilliant way of beating cravings that come after a morning coffee or following dinner.
2. Hypnosis
Most people tend to roll their eyes at the prospect of signing up to a course of hypnosis. Nonetheless, when you actually get into the research surrounding its effectiveness for beating a smoking habit, the findings are quite compelling. Numerous studies have found that people who undergo hypnosis have a much better chance of quitting and then sticking to it than people who do not.
3. Cut Down on Stress
One of the biggest triggers that led most people to smoke is stress. People tend to smoke more when they expose themselves to stressful situations at work or at home. For this reason, it is a good idea to try to identify the situations that cause you to feel anxious and look to work out ways to eliminate them from your life.
4. Avoid Spending Time with Smokers
When we say avoid spending time with smokers, we do not mean you should do this permanently. However, during the first month of the time of your final cigarette, we strongly advise you to make an effort to stay away from friends and family members who smoke. People who know you and your normal habits will offer you cigarettes that you may find almost impossible to turn down.
5. Stay Positive
The most important change that you need to make when stopping smoking is psychological. However ingrained and long-lived your habit, you should remember that quitting is not impossible. Try to change your perception of yourself as a smoker. When you do this, others will begin to stop seeing you as a smoker as well, making it easier to become a “new” person.
Stopping smoking is a challenge that may not yield fruit the first time around. Most people take a few tries to achieve success, so you should not get disheartened if you have slip-ups. Use the tips above to improve your chances!