Quitting Smoking – Doing Away with the Misconceptions Part I

 

When you’re ready to quit smoking the last thing you need is to be told a lot of non-truths about smoking.

Many people for example think of giving up smoking as an event that will take only a matter of weeks to accomplish and then it will become a reality in their life. In truth once you give up smoking you may find that even after days, weeks or even months the urge to smoke may be so strong that you will light up again- and be angry at yourself for it.

Smoking is not a single event like attending a concert or going to a dance.

It is a process that involves many baby steps and much patience, effort and hard work.

Do people stop smoking “cold turkey” or see a hypnotherapist once and never feel the urge again to smoke? Sure  they do… but this by no means the norm.

The hold that smoking has on you will usually let go of its grip slowly. You may even have days when you feel that you have gone two steps behind instead of going two steps ahead. This is a normal part of the process. Let us look at some other misconceptions that surround smoking. To be successful at quitting you must dispel these myths from your head.

One common misconception is that if you have been smoking for many years then the damage has already been done to your body and that is that. If you think that the ship has sailed on this then think again. It is actually never too late to stop.

As soon as you quit beneficial changes will begin to occur. In fact within the the first 20 minutes of smoking your very last cigarette changes begin to take place that will continue over days, weeks, months and years. Not all of the damage caused to your body is reversible but there is a great deal of healing that is possible.

Psychologically you may struggle to free yourself from nicotine addiction.

If the desire to give up smoking has made you feel weak and has eroded your self-esteem then you will be pleased to know that once you finally free yourself from the habit you will feel a sense of empowerment and will feel that control of your own life is back in your hands again. The feeling you experience will be incredible and will have you feeling on top of the world!

Many people overestimate the strength of their resolve and think that they can smoke one cigarette and still continue with their no-smoking plan. This is not so. One cigarette always leads to another and another. For most people if they take one puff after quitting this will plunge them right back into smoking all of the time. To do away with nicotine addiction for good you need to remember the philosophy of N.O.P.E. which stands for “Not One Puff Ever.”

In part two of Quitting Smoking –  Doing Away with the Misconceptions we explore more myths that can thwart your efforts to end the smoking habit- and keep it gone!

Finally, if you’re interested in more information about my own online or in-office then check out my own quit smoking hypnosis programs.

Becca Scott
Staff Writer