★Quit Smoking motivation

Hi Guys,
Having just read through the exercise motivation thread I was totally amazed at the support network and can see the results proving very effective to all those contributing to it.

Does anyone have similar motivational tactics for stopping smoking? I know that I will save money, feel healthier, look fresher and live longer, but for some strange reason that little beast finds a way of being positive when it clearly isnt!

I need motivation like seeing that 5 pounds of fat on the exercise thread! (Thanks Jeff!) – but not the negative health stuff, thats just torturous! – something that illustrates the money I would save perhaps? The end results and not the obstacles/health issues/financial waste etc

Any help/ideas would be greatly appreciated and I know you guys have bags of enthusiasm to help me and other fellow smokers quit!
Also I would love to hear from fellow smokers too – are you ready to quit? Are you trying?

Hey hey, I used visualisation there also. I quit 5 years ago and I am soooooo proud of myself, and today I don’t even believe I ever smoked (I smoked for 25 years almost a pack a day)
For a long time I thought one day I will quit. Then EU started printing these hazard warnings on the packs, wich irritated me big time.
Then one evening at dinner, I said lets finish this pack and I will not buy a new one. (had done this before with no success)

This time, everytime I got the urge to pick up a cigarette, I replaced the picture with a different one. I remember the first days I replaced it with turning the pages of a book. Then at work, I had loads of madarines (it was winter) so everytime I thought of having a cig, I took a mandarine.
After some months, everytime I thought of a cig for a split of a second, I could easily just say ‘No’ and turn my mind to something else.

In response to aftab’s post:
By the way money saving never worked for me. After 3 months of not smoking, I decided to treat myself with the money I had saved. So I decided I will buy some good cosmetics, now that my skin will be looking better, I will help it a bit.
I ended up spending 3 times as much as I had saved :-O

But my skin does realy look alot better and that was not because of the creams. My tan got alot nicer only few months after :-)

This is really great stuff Aftab! Spending the money on ‘GOOD’ things is more rewarding in the long run and increases your ‘feel good’ energies!
Regarding the mandarines and page turning:
Many thanks. I like the fact that you can replace images in your subconscious. Its a bit like the blue mirror technique?? Again, I bet Laurie could enlighten me on that! Certainly getting used to the idea of switching images in the mind and I think the more I do this, the easier it will become – almost instantaneous eventually.
You have inspired me so much today!
God bless you, Persian Prince! x

˚exponential harmony  

Posted on 25/06/2009.

I found some great stuff, but don’t understand what you don’t want. Gross health stuff ok?
WARNING
Gross but true! If you don’t have the stomach for real life gruesome pictures of medical issues that result from smoking, than DO NOT WATCH THIS!!!

VERY VERY GROSS BUT TRUE MEDICAL ISSUES RESULTING FROM SMOKING

I would think affirmations about loving yourself (mind body and spirit)would be great!

How about:
I love myself so much, that the only rationalizing I attempt is to remember that with my very healthy habits.

I care about others so much, that I set an example with my very real healthy habits.

I am so smart that I only tell myself the truth when conducting my life in a very healthy way.

I know so much about health, and moment by moment I prove it with how I actively nurture my mind, body and spirit.

I am so smart with finances, that I only buy what is healthy. This saves money for today and my healthcare for later.

WOW Laurie! Yes, very gross but oh, so powerful…..

I need a moment to think….not smoke. breathe fresh air….
xx

In response to anoushka_f’s post:
Princess! ;-)

There is a difference between how I visual and the blue mirror. Blue mirror, you are watching yourself. Whereas I see me, feel me doing it. Not sure how to explain this, I do not see myself as another person.

It was like when my mind sent the order: grab for a cigaret. I replaced that with turn the pages of a book.

˚exponential harmony  

Posted on 25/06/2009.

In response to aftab’s post:
That is what blue mirror exercise does. You turn the corner with brand new thoughts and behavior. And you can feel it from the inside out. The more thorough and/or well you detail it, the more equipped the instaneous changes begin.

In response to laurie-prioritizes~and focuses~ very~well’s post:
I thought for blue mirror, I would be watching myself in the mirror, so I am looking at my picture/my reflection. Whereas what I mean is that I am part of the picture, it is me doing something rather than my reflection.

Please correct me if I misunderstood the blue mirror.

For example, you are sitting on a sofa in a room and want to visual sitting on a bench in a park. Close your eyes and start seeing your surroundings around you, the trees, the field, feel the wooden bench under you, feel the breeze through your hair etc. You yourself are part of the picture.
It is difficult to explain, guess best to say it is that the phyiscal you is not an observer rather part of the picture.

˚exponential harmony  

Posted on 25/06/2009.

In response to aftab’s post:
You don’t have to actually see you in the mirror. The mirror is simply your looking glass for what you’re peering at. The mirror captures the essence of you in ->the image of what you’re peering at.

Forget the idea of a mirror. A real mirror only allows you to see a 1 dimensional image of yourself. In this exercise-it’s all encompassing. You see, feel, think, create a complete understanding of the complexity of yourself. You don’t have to detail everything in words. You just have to understand what you want and what you don’t want, and describe what that is, and feel it.

Sounds like you have the idea. and if it works for you, great. Most important thing w/the 2 images (2 frames), is to rid yourself of the blue framed mirror (what you want to be gone), before keeping what you’ve created in the white frame “mirror”. Make sense?

In response to anoushka_f’s post:

Anoushka~ My sister, who is a nurse, had smoked for years and years. She just recently quit last year, so I have put a bug in her ear to come up with her very best affirmations. I’m looking forward to sharing them with you. She is driving in to the big city to see me tomorrow.

You guys are so great. Thankyou all. Your support in itself is motivation for me to quit. I have suddenly found that my desire to smoke (since yesterday) has decreased. I am being more ‘mindful’ about the decision. I really feel this could be it. Fingers crossed.
I am using the visualisation techniques in a slightly different way…I hope you will approve…

My reason for smoking is a fear of weight gain, or not digesting my food quickly enough and therefore feeling ‘full’ which I dont like.
So, my visualisations are for smooth digestion and comfortable stomach feelings. Thinking tall and lean as opposed to sluggish. Visualising energy in transit of foods….and utlisation on nutrients.
I drink heaps of herbal tea that help with such things, and I eat healthily, so there should be no reason that I will soon have no desire to smoke. I must also visualise freedom from that fear. Being comfortable with my body and loving myself more will certainly help too.

I look forward to hearing MM’s sister’s techniques too!!
Love to all, Aftab, Laurie and MM – You guys rock! ;o) Big hugs and smiles. x

In response to anoushka_f’s post:
YES YES YES … perfect

One point to weight, your metabolism might change and you might crave suger, it is allright, it will only be temporary and you will go back to your normal eating and digesting habit and your normal weight.

˚exponential harmony  

Posted on 26/06/2009.

In response to aftab’s post:
Whoops. Thought you were questioning techique.
Glad, you found things that work!!(smiles)

I gave up smoking when I became pregnant with my daughter – that was 9 years ago & haven’t looked back. Reason was I cared so much about that growing baby that it meant more than my own needs. You maybe could try & transfer that kind of strong love to your own self.

There’s a CD or book by Alan Carr, Quit Smoking the Easy Way – I have heard great things about. See if your local library has a copy.

I sometimes get out the calculator & do annoying sums in front of my smoker husband to show him if he gave up smoking he could afford to go home to France every year, he’s still smoking so my nagging isn’t working!

Good luck & I wish you well. You really can do it.

In response to Vivi exercises daily!‘s post:
Thankyou Vivi. You know I think I have that book from the last time I tried to quit. I will dig it out again. I remeber it working because I like Alan Carr’s tough love approach. However, just as I have been changing my life with affirmations and behavioural adjustments, I feel like I am making all round positive steps that attracting goodness into my life. That’s not to say I have quit yet. But I am certainly having some rejective reactions to cigarettes! Bizarre. But by changing mindset, changing attitude releasing fear of weight gain, or slowed digestion has created some changes in action…..i.e I take a drag or two then decide I dont want the rest! Its miraculous.
I will however start reading the Alan Carr book again, because its all positive reinforcement! I will knock this on the head for good! I shall succeed!
Blessings to you Vivi!
;o)

In response to anoushka_f’s post:

You will get there Anoushka f! I have been smoke free for 11 years now, after reading Alan Carr book, re read the book 3 times I think, to really make it click for me. And in regards to putting on weight I read his book Easy Weigh To Lose Weight, that book made things click into place too! Wishing you the best in your success, my thoughts and prayers Dee

Thought some might enjoy a funny story about quitting smoking. :) I smoked off and on for 25 years… One fine day, I woke up and had no voice whatsoever…couldn’t even get out a whisper! Went Pronto to Denver General, had to wait 2 1/2 hrs to see the doctor, who, when he came in to the exam room was in a FOUL mood! Couldnt’ find the equipment he wanted. Admidst the exam I managed to kinda whisper “Is it cancer?” cuz I WAS SCARED… Dr. Grouch just snapped at me “I don’t know!
Then he says sarcastically: “You probably smoke, right?” and I whispered, loud as I could;…“Not anymore”
“Yeah, I’ll bet”…he said even more sarcastically…
Anyway, I guess it was just laryngitis…I went home and threw away the open pk of cigarettes and didn’t even smoke again…becauseI thought I’LL SHOW YOU, you old Dr CrabButt!! … Turned out to be a real blessing in disguise. :)

Perhaps god does work in various ways,one of my beleifs is what works for me may or may not work for someone else.
That’s why I speak from personal experience.
That way my truth is not conflicted with anothers truth or experience.
How I quit smoking many years ago was a method I created or used that
was unique and effective for me.I suppose god deserves some credit.
That’s probably where creativity originates.

There were many things to consider as I decided to quit smoking "AGAIN"

What I can share for now is this.

I had to acknowledge to myself as I was getting ready to quit again the potential or inevitable obstacles I would have to negotiate or find a way around.

So I PONDERED THE MENTAL OR PSYCHOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS caps on again.

Ultimately this forethought was a necessary part of the puzzle,

that I implemented after relapsing many times.

Specifically I acknowledge to myself that I would gain much mental clarity as a result of quitting

for the first year or so,but that contrast from fog to clarity would eventually dissipate.

So the next time I quit I was mentally prepared for this "curveball"from the addiction.

More thoughts on this another day.

bookmarking this for ya D 

I randomly came up with this method of quitting.
And it just happened to work.
Instead of having a smoke as soon as I woke up,I waited 10 minutes.
Then smoked the day away as usual,but the next day I had to extend the wait a bit further,or at least 10 minutes then smoke.
So what I did in effect was set and achieve a bunch of mini goals to accomplish the main goal of quitting altogether.
I would wait a bit longer each day before lighting up,after a couple weeks I was having my first smoke of the day in the evening and would smoke until bedtime.
During this process I sometimes only made it to the previous days light up time,but I considered that a good thing because that was my goal to reach at least the previous days plateau and extending longer was likely the next day.
The end result after a few weeks was not lighting up until bedtime then smoking.
And finally not lighting up and going to sleep.The following day I didn't light up either
and it's now been almost 20 years without even the desire to smoke again.
Not sure how this strategy was so successful or even why I thought of it,
it may have been the overall process of accomplishing "mini" goals as I strived towards
the main goal perhaps.