7 Tips to Prepare Yourself to Quit Smoking

By Carlon Haas | July 25, 2007

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“This is the last one, I swear it is,” I said to myself as I lit up another cigarette on my way back from buying my “last” pack. I had done it again. Gone a week and watched my willpower get crushed under the wheels of addiction.

I felt like a complete and total failure. I had tried over and over again to quit. But I wouldn’t make it until…

…an event triggered me to finally give it up. But I’ll get to that in a minute.

I had tried to quit smoking almost from the day I started. I started when I was in Korea (where it seemed like everyone smoked), and went on for about 6-7 years. All the time, I quit. And the in the year leading up to me quitting for good, I quit 9 times.

And though I failed, I learned a few lessons about the quitting smoking mindset. Though there were many aids for me (patches, gum, pills), it was the mindset that eluded me, and unfortunately it took me many attempts to quit before I got it (and it was still hard as heck to stop myself from smoking).

But in order to help you not go through the things I went through here are 7 things I learned that prepared me mentally to quit for good:

#1 Accept responsibility for getting yourself into this mess. Get out of the habit of making excuses. You got yourself into this mess, and you’ll get yourself out of it. And the no excuses goes for those times you get cravings and come up with all sorts of reasons to have to smoke like: I feel less stress when I smoke, smoking makes me feel good, etc. etc. This excuse-making mentality derailed me many times.

#2 There is no such thing as willpower. You are a slave to addiction. Saying, “if I had enough willpower I could do it” is disrespectful to the sheer power of nicotine. Willpower alone cannot defeat it. Seek help wherever you can find it. I used a nicotine patch. Some people use gum…whatever works for you. But also seek support of your friends and family.

#3 Quitting smoking is a process. You won’t quit the first time you try. It may take you 2 times, 3 times, 9 times (like me), or even 100 times. But NEVER STOP QUITTING.

#4 Identify yourself as a non-smoker. Start thinking of yourself as a non-smoker. This will help rid you of the image of yourself as a smoker that you forged over time. Seriously…when you quit, you will discover just how many life habits you formed around the single act of smoking. You won’t feel like “yourself.” And peaking of habits…

#5 During the quitting process, learn to identify which habits trigger the urge for smoking. There were many times I liked to smoke, and there was also food and drink pairings. For me, it was black coffee and beer. So, I gave up beer. As for coffee, I couldn’t do that. So, I drank it with cream and sugar. After quitting smoking for 6 months or so, I was able to return to black coffee and still enjoy it today (though I can discern taste better now than when I was smoking). It may take you a few times to quit before you get all the triggers down (there are more than you think).

#6 Forget about rewarding yourself. I know a lot of quit smoking “thingies” tell you to reward yourself for not smoking. Your reward? Life. Seriously, develop the mindset that you re doing this for yourself and the people you love. You want to eat some good food? Want to go out? Just do it. Live life for its own sake, not as a reward for quitting smoking.

#7 Never forget: once a smoker always a smoker. This may seem contradictory, but once you stop smoking, never for a minute think that you beat it. It only takes one to get you back. I haven’t smoked for almost 5 years, but don’t doubt for a moment that if I even tried a cigarette I would be hooked again,

Through the trials and errors of smoking, quitting, and smoking again, this is the mentality that got me through it. And if you’re wondering about the event that got me to quit for good—here it is:

My daughter.

When my wife was pregnant with our daughter, I told her I would quit. And I did. I just wish it hadn’t taken such a dramatic event to make it happen.

But…here’s to life everyone. If you are a smoker and want to quit smoking, I wish you the best of luck. I hope these 7 tips will help you develop the right mindset to get yo uthrough the process. Never give up. Stay strong. Be happy.

* If you are a non-smoker, but know a smoker who wants to quit, feel free to e-mail this post to them. If this post can’t help you, then I hope it can help somebody you love.

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