A couple of days ago I met a friend of mine at a local cafeteria for a chat. At one point we started talking about habits. My friend confessed that he smokes 30 cigarettes a day and has tried several times to quit smoking but every time he failed. I shared with him the tips that helped me quit smoking. Like him I had tried several times to quit smoking and finally I succeeded.

    We agreed that since I have first hand experience I will be his coach to quit smoking. The following are the tips that I shared with my friend.

    1. Believe that you can do it

    Saying things like “I will try to quit smoking” will never make you quit. You first of all have to decide with yourself that you really want to quit. I believe that 90% of the people who try to quit smoking and fail is because they in the first place did not mean to quit.

    2. Get to know how harmful cigarettes are

    Spend a week browsing the internet and gather some content about how harmful cigarettes are. Find pictures of lungs of people who smoke. Get to know what effects cigarettes have on you and the people around you. This will help you convince yourself that quitting the bad habit of smoking makes real sense.

    3. Make a plan

    Plan how you are going to quit over a period of time. Be aware don’t make it easy for yourself. If you smoke 30 cigarettes a day, you can completely quit smoking in less than a month. Yes, I am not joking.

    4. Make it public

    Don’t keep the news for yourself. Make other people pressure you. If you say to your family, friends and colleagues that you are quitting, then you have no chance of smoking at least when you are in their presence. Also by making it public, you will stop being offered cigarettes by friends who still think that you are a smoker. This was the most difficult part for me.

    5. Replace cigarettes

    One of the most difficult things at first when you quit smoking is what to do to replace smoking. I used to find myself mimicking the movement I used to do while smoking, even though it had been months since I quitted. The only solution to this is to replace a cigarette with a non alcoholic drink. Every now and then instead of taking a puff, you take a sip.

    6. Start exercising

    This is the best tip. I was going to put it the first one but I know that if I had done that, most of the people would not have read the rest of the article. Even when I was giving tips to my friend, I didn’t tell him this tip as the first one. But I am a strong believer that exercises helped me to quit. I went to a gym and subscribed for 6 months. Then I started to do some basic cardio. It was then when I realized how harmful smoking is.
I challenged myself to improve my stamina by completely quitting smoking and exercise daily. The challenge to increase my stamina made it easier to throw away all the packets of cigarettes that I had in my office desk.

    7. Be rootless

    Unfortunately there are people (I don’t call them friends) who even though you tell them that you are trying very hard to quit smoking, they still insist that you should take a cigarette. They start this nonsense that one cigarette will not harm you. The point is not harm; the point is that you start smoking again by taking a single puff. Be rootless, be ready to even avoid the company of such people since they will make it extremely hard for you to quit. Spare me some words:

    A true friends respects your opinion and if you tell him that you are trying to quit smoking, he will help you achieve that goal rather than making your challenge more difficult.

    幾天前, 我在本地的一家自助餐館里和我的一個朋友見了面并聊了會. 不知怎地, 我們聊起了關(guān)于習慣的話題. 我的那位朋友承認, 他一天要抽30根煙, 雖然他也曾幾次嘗試戒煙, 但每次都是以失敗而告終. 我和他一樣, 也曾幾次試過戒煙, 但是最后, 我終于成功了.

    我們都同意, 正因為我有關(guān)于戒煙第一手的經(jīng)驗, 所以我會教他如何戒煙. 下面是我和朋友分享的幾條關(guān)于如何戒煙的小貼示.

    1.相信你可以做到

    告訴你自己諸如"我會試著戒煙"這樣的話,將讓你永不會中途放棄. 首先, 你必須自己下定決心, 你自己是真的想要戒煙. 我相信, 90%嘗試戒煙卻中途放棄而致失敗的人是因為他們一開始就不是真的想去戒煙.

    2.了解到香煙危害之大

    花一周時間瀏覽下英特網(wǎng), 收集些關(guān)于香煙危害之大的相關(guān)內(nèi)容. 找些煙民們肺部的圖片. 了解下香煙對你和你周身的人會有怎樣的危害. 這會幫助你說服自己, 告別吸煙這個壞習慣是確有其益.

    3.制定計劃

    計劃下你打算用多久來戒煙. 要意識到, 那不會那么輕松. 如果你每天收30根煙, 你能在不到一個月的時間里徹底戒掉抽煙的惡習. 是的, 我不是在開玩笑.

    4.把你要戒煙的消息公之于眾

    不要自己一個人偷偷的戒煙. 把你要戒煙的消息公之于眾, 讓其他人給你施壓. 如果你告訴你的家庭成員, 朋友抑或你的同事你要戒煙的消息, 那么至少在他們面前你就沒機會抽上一口了. 把你要戒煙的消息公之于眾, 你那些原以為你還抽的朋友也就不會再給你煙了. 這對你來說是最為困難的一步.

    5.用別的東西代替香煙

    當你開始戒煙最困難的步驟之一, 莫過于用什么來代替香煙. 我曾發(fā)現(xiàn)自己會去模仿吸煙時的動作, 甚至是在我戒煙幾月后也會如是. 唯一可以用來代替香煙的就是不含酒精的飲品. 每每你想要抽上一口的時候, 啜上一小口吧.

    6.開始鍛煉

    這是最好的一條帖示. 我本想把它放在第一條的, 但我知道, 如果我如是做了, 大多的人就不會讀完這篇文章了. 就算是告訴我朋友這幾條帖示的時候, 我也沒把這條當作第一條先告訴他. 但是, 我深信鍛煉能幫助我戒煙. 我戒煙的那段時間, 我去家了健身房, 并續(xù)了為期半年的約. 那之后, 我開始做一些擴充心肺功能的運動. 從那時候我才知道, 戒煙的危害有多么大.

    我為了能徹底戒掉煙癮,我每天都做運動來挑戰(zhàn)自己以此來增加自己的耐力. 而增加耐力的挑戰(zhàn)讓我能更輕松的把我辦公桌里的那些整包整包的煙丟在腦后.

    7.不要受別人的影響

    不幸的是, 仍有些人(這些人我不愿把他們稱為朋友)即使你告訴他們你正在努力的戒煙, 他們還是堅持說你該來一根. 他們會說一根煙不會對你有害的鬼話. 關(guān)鍵并不在是不是有害, 而在一旦你抽了那根你就會又開始抽了. 不要受別人的影響, 做好躲開你公司那么人的準備, 因為他們會讓戒煙變的非常困難. 記住我一些話:

    一個真正的朋友會尊重你的選擇, 而且如果你告訴他你開始戒煙, 他會幫你達成戒煙的目標而非讓戒煙變的更難.