How to Quit Smoking Cigarettes

"One thousand Americans stop smoking every day - by dying." ~ Anonymous

From having observed a variety of people all through my life, I have come to the conclusion that the following two activities have a lot in common:

• Wanting to quit smoking
• Wanting to attend gym regularly.

"How are they similar", you may ask. Well, here's my answer. Both are goals that the people concerned dearly want to achieve. However, both goals end up being mere mirages, rarely do they ever metamorphose into reality. The number of smokers who want to quit puffing are a dime a dozen, however, the ones who actually succeed in quitting are a mere handful. Why is that so? Is quitting smoking really that humongous a task? Can it be achieved? If yes, then how? How to quit smoking cigarettes? Well, many unsuccessful quitters would consider that a million dollar question. Read on to find a billion dollar answer.

Easy Tips on How to Quit Smoking Cigarettes
The process to successfully quit smoking involves a combination of multiple factors. Let us have a look at what they are.

• Prepare a Plan: Most smokers, at some point in their life, do try to quit smoking but without any success. A mistake that most of them commit is that they quit suddenly. While sudden, abrupt quitting does work for a few, it doesn't for most. If you are the type of smoker who cannot wake up one fine day and announce "I quit!", then you need to chalk out a proper quitting plan.
• Set a Deadline: Naturally, this should be the next logical step that follows. Set yourself a quitting deadline. It could be anything between two weeks to two months. However, be sincere and serious about it. If you end up giving yourself a period of six months to quit smoking those cigars, it simply means that you're not serious about it.
• Start Cutting Down: If you want to meet your deadline date, you should immediately start cutting down on your daily dose of cigarettes. How many cigarettes you cut down per day will depend on how heavy a smoker you are. During this phase, you could also consider substituting your regular cigarettes with special smokeless cigarettes.
• Find a Friend: By this I do not mean go around town making new friends. What it implies is that you should catch hold of a fellow aspiring quitter. Having the company of somebody who is going through the same journey as you are, can sometimes help in strengthening your resolve and can make the task a little bit easier. Just make sure that the other person too is equally serious about quitting smoking.
• Find Out Your Weaknesses: This is something that you should do while you are in the quitting process itself, and not after you have quit. Think about what situations make you want to light up. Are there any specific daily activities that trigger you into wanting to have a puff? Identify them and note them down. In future, you will need to distract yourself during these very situations.
• Visualize: This is a very powerful weapon. Close your eyes and see yourself as having quit smoking successfully. Visualize yourself as having achieved your goal. Doing so not only strengthens you mentally, but the positive vibrations and frequencies that you give out to the universe do come back in the form of desired success.
• Family Support: This is also something that is very important in making sure that you stay away from cigarettes after having taken the trouble to quit. Each time that you feel like lighting up, ask your family members or friends to distract you, keep you busy, and in the process, keep you away from cigarettes. Slowly, your psychological and physical dependence on tobacco and nicotine will start reducing and it will ultimately be eliminated.

In addition to the above factors, here are some other ideas to help you quit smoking:

• Keep your mouth occupied every time you feel like having a smoke. Use chewing gum, sweets, an eclair, a fruit, or just brush your teeth.
• In addition to the regular nicotine patches, you could consider opting for special nicotine and tobacco-free cigarettes that are aimed at helping cigarette quitters.
• Speak to other people who have successfully quit smoking and learn a few new secrets.

So, for those of you who were wondering how to quit smoking cigarettes, here's the best answer for you in the form of the following quote.

"The best way to stop smoking is to just stop - no ifs, ands, or butts." ~ Edith Zittler