In discussing the reason for smoking with many people, the number one perceived benefit is “It helps me relax”. There sometimes is a great deal of anxiety and even some anger displayed during discussions about quitting this habit. One person told me about how anxious they were and how they used smoking to keep from over-eating.

One thing I want my clients to remember is that quitting is not an action. You can’t “not do” something, you have to “do” something. Don’t quit smoking, start improving your health. Improve it for this hour, now, today. You have to focus on the now while remembering where you ultimately want to be.

If you don’t think you have a problem, if you say to yourself, “I won’t quit.” or “I can’t quit.” you are not ready for action. If you are thinking about quitting “this year” you are not ready for action. If you are going to quit soon, say in around 30 days, then the things I describe here are good for you to try while you write a plan to quit and a plan to recover if you quit and start smoking again.

Steven Covey in his book about The 7 Habits advised readers to “Begin with the end in mind.” That is the end of the journey but right now you need another of the principles, “Think Win/Win”. A “win” for you is to live without tobacco this hour and to do something else you choose to improve your life now. Listen to music, eat a carrot, have 3 bites of something you are craving, take a walk, floss your teeth, do something for you.

Take the same time you would for smoking and go to a quiet place and imagine how you would like to be. How will you be when you are no longer a smoker? What will you be then? Even though you are in the process, say to yourself, as if your goal is already achieved, “I am healthier because I am in control of my health.” (If you smoke the tobacco company is in control of your health.) Use your previous “smoking” time as a time to relax and to visualize what you want.

When you do this you do two things. First, you remind yourself of your goal. Second, you create an anticipation in your subconscious mind for what you want. Your subconscious is a robot. It uses up all that brain space that the uninformed person says isn’t used. It is a fantastic computer that calculates how much sodium you have in your blood and cells along with thousands of other chemicals, it keeps the heart beating, your lungs breathing, your blood pressure up, etc… It also takes you where you want to go.

Ever driven somewhere only to suddenly realize you don’t remember the last 5 minutes? Who was driving? It was your subconscious. It was taking you where you have gone many times or doing what you have done many times. Visualization coupled with telling yourself and others what you are going to accomplish is the process of programming the subconscious to look for the solution. It is your robot, if you see and speak what you want consistently.

Quit saying it is hard, sure it is. Isn’t everything you do that is a new skill. Wasn’t learning to ride a bike, passing all the exams in Algebra, finding a job and then learning your duties? Yes! But you did them. Only riding a bike was your choice. You wanted to do it and you finally learned how. Not by just thinking about it, but first by wanting a bike. Then when you had a bike by trying over and over until you succeeded. Learning to be healthy can be challenging if you have to change something like smoking behavior. Say you can, think you can, try and try and you will. Others have, why not you?

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