I also like the list exercise you have outlined in this post. keeping that list with you at all times is just downright smart.

congrats, this is a very nice and informative post.
I consider myself lucky because I don’t smoke, and my parents don’t smoke either. The majority of my class doesn’t smoke. However, everyone knows smokers, and so do I. Many of these say that smoking calms them down. That might be true. In the past, I can remember two or three cases of extreme stress when I also bought some cigarettes. However, when you start to regularly smoke, that effect disappears.. it’ll no longer be a tool, rather a need. You only have the illusion that it calms you down, because whenever you don’t get your daily (hourly?) dose of cigarette, you are nervous.

Everyone merits to realize this, and I honestly hope that those of you who smoke and want to quit will be able to do so!

Best wishes,
Zoli

@ Jess – LOL, I had a vision of you locked away in your home with your friends banging on the door for a moment. Probably never happened, but such is my brain ;-)

I quite smoking about 2 years ago now. And it totally came down to the distinction between actually wanting to quit for me vs. wanting to want to quit.

In the end, it has to be a personal decision, you are the only one that is around 24 hours a day to make sure you don’t sneak that one smoke.

I also had to take time away from my regular smoking friends and lock myself at home for a couple of weeks to remove all temptation. But totally worth it.

Thanks for sharing!

Cheers

Jesse

That’s some post …! And definitely a brilliant resource one to link back to when talking in future posts about any type of stopping something.

I’ve just stopped smoking – having tried on and off over the past few years. For me, your wanting to want to stop point is one of the most important. As a coach, my own NLP teachings have helped, including anchors and other things you’ve touched on, but, for me, I found it helped to go deeper into beliefs (as you also say) and use another NLP technique called Logical Levels, which you’ll know well. For others’ sake, briefly it’s about going down to a deeper level to explore who you are in relation to a particular issue and looking at this in terms of the different levels that make you up (eg in terms of external
factors such as environment, right down to your deepest beliefs and who you are at an identity level). It’s the identity level that worked best for me – I simply don’t want smoking to be part of who I am anymore.

I’m sure you cover off Logical Levels in How to Be Rich and Happy – and I’d really recommend it as a great exercise.

I also agree with the Alan Carr approach, which was as long as you still see smoking as a treat and something you are ‘giving up’, you will never stop. It’s only once you decide/believe that smoking is not a treat that it gets much easier. And of course, you’re not ‘giving up’ anything as that only fans the feeling of now missing out on something, whereas saying ’stopping’ implies there was nothing to give up in the first place.

Thanks again Tim for a brilliant post.

All the best

Tamsin@nudgeme