It's important to go over the basics when talking about smoking cessation. Since people usually do not plan out how they will begin smoking, they sometimes lose sight of the idea that you must plan out how to quit. Many smokers treat this life-changing event as casually as deciding which restaurant to eat at on Saturday night. But stopping smoking is a very difficult proposition for most smokers. Sure the intermittent smokers or social smokers may be able to quit whenever they want, but that's because they're likely not addicted to nicotine as roughly 85% of all smokers are. This is why it is so difficult to quit. So let's go over the basics.
1. Decide to quit smoking
2. Know why you want to quit
3. Plan out how you want to quit (what method or methods you'll choose, etc.)
4. See your doctor or other license smoking cessation professional
5. Set a quit day
6. Let people know you are quitting, so you can gain their support
7. Gain knowledge so you can have realistic expectations
8. Prepare for the withdrawal cravings and expect them to be very difficult
9. Look for things to keep you busy during the first couple of weeks of quitting, but try not to add any more stress to your life during that time
10. Stay committed and get help when you can throughout the entire process
Gaining knowledge to create a game plan is one of the single greatest steps you can execute when you stop smoking. There are some nice places to go to get information, but watch out for sites selling you what basically amounts to snake oil, or what we call placebo-based smoking remedies.
