The first step when you're not ready to quit

Quitting is a process and not a one time event but often smokers think that they should just wake up one day and quit. Instead, take it one step at a time. Don't know where to start?

Before you can make any changes, know where you are by keeping a diary of when you smoke--what time, what you are doing, how you are feeling. You will start to see patterns which will tell you what aspects you need to deal with.

Monitoring your smoking, will show you your habit cigarettes--after a meal, talking on the phone, many of these you know but a smoking dairy will tell you also about the times that you aren't aware of--when that cigarette seems important. This method will also make you more conscious about your smoking. So often smokers don't even realize they are smoking-it becomes a totally unconscious habit, just like driving becomes after years of practice. Keeping a diary will make each cigarette a conscious choice.

After keeping a smoking diary for a while, you will know when you are ready to take the next step towards becoming a former smoker by looking at your patterns and deciding which one to tackle first or what skills you need to learn to overcome the different ways you are connected to your cigarettes.

Believe in progress, not perfection.

Success Factors When Quitting

There are thousands of products offering a 100% guarantee that you will quit smoking but while every method will work for some, no method works for everyone. But successful quitters do have several factors in common.

Build Desire: Quit smoking because it is important to you. Find your own reasons for being becoming smoke free. Often people trying to convince smokers to quit, give their own reasons instead of looking at what is important to the smoker. See how smoking is incongruent with your values and what is truly important to you. Until you want to do something, you won't do it.

Undercover Limiting Beliefs: A belief is just something that you tell yourself over and over again. What are you telling yourself about your cigarettes? What are they giving you that you think you can't get someplace else? What "can't" you do--how can you change this belief and see that often we say we "can't " do something when we really mean, "I don't want to."

Confront Fears: Smoking is something most smokers have done for so long that it becomes part of a person's identity and when quitting, the question is How will I change? Who am I, if I'm not a smoker? What is it that you are afraid of-if you quit? Loss of identity? Fear of pain from withdrawals? Loss of control? Weight gain? No way to deal with stress?

Take Action: What are you willing to do? Quitting is a process that a smoker moves through instead of a one time event. What is the first step that you are willing to do? Maybe that is just gathering more information about different methods and products available. Maybe it is something simple like leaving your cigarettes in another room, so you have to think about smoking one, instead of automatically reaching for one.

Believe in progress, not perfection. Quitting smoking is one of the hardest things you can do but it is the most important thing you can do for your health.