The Psychology of Quitting Smoking

At one point or another, every smoker has made the decision to quit – so what makes you any different? Arming yourself with knowledge and a detailed plan will exponentially increase your chances at being successful when trying to quit smoking. Did you know that only about 10% of your addition to cigarettes is physical? That leaves the other 90% to be entirely in your mind! Physically, you can easily quit smoking because the worst of the storm passes, on average, in under three days. So the hard part is getting control of your brain.

To start your planning, you should develop a simple chart. Grab a piece of paper and a pen and find yourself a few minutes to really sit down and think long and hard about this. You’ll have two categories to fill: 1. Why did I start smoking to begin with? and 2. Why do I want to quit smoking now? When you thoroughly analyze your reasoning behind these actions, you can better overcome them. You’d be surprised at some of the reasons people pick up smoking to begin with – and you’ll most likely find that none of those reasons even apply today. (more…)