Sacramento Head Start Alumni Association

New Ways to Quit Smoking

Dec 27, 2004

New Ways to Quit Smoking

Peter and Peggy Holmes
Clean Break

Special from Bottom Line/Personal

Smoking is the number-one cause of preventable death in the US, resulting in an estimated 440,000 premature deaths annually and costing the average pack-a-day smoker almost $2,000 a year. Yet, about 48 million people still smoke. Most of them have tried to quit at least once and failed. This program has worked for thousands of people. There's a good chance that it will work for you, too...

Traditional thinking: Ex-smokers eventually get over the urge to smoke.

New strategy: Realize that after you quit you will always have the desire to smoke, though the intensity and frequency decrease over time. Accept your urge to smoke, knowing that you don't have to act on it.

Traditional thinking: Announce to the world that you've quit smoking.

New strategy: Only you can control your smoking. By announcing your decision to stop, you try to make others responsible for your behavior. Set a time to stop smoking, and keep it to yourself. If someone asks if you have stopped, tell him/her you're thinking about it but haven't decided for sure.

Traditional thinking: You should vow to never smoke again.

New strategy: Deciding to never smoke again makes you feel trapped. You are perfectly capable of stopping smoking for one split second, and that's all you need to do. When you decide to not smoke, tell yourself you might smoke later but that you'll make that decision when the time comes. Staying in the present helps defuse anxiety.

Traditional thinking: You need to dispose of all tobacco and avoid situations in which you normally smoke.

New strategy: When you do this, you're saying that you can't be responsible for your behavior, so keep tobacco on hand, and continue all your normal activities. This helps you make deliberate, positive decisions.

Traditional thinking: You can curb the desire to smoke by distracting yourself with food or an activity.

New strategy: Distractions and substitutes keep you from facing the real issues about stopping smoking.

When you have a desire to smoke, remember the benefits that you'll get from not smoking, and confront the consequences of continuing to smoke.
First Printed: June 1, 2004