Two Tips to Help You Quit Smoking for Good

It's a new year, and if you smoke, the best and most important resolution you can make this year for your own health and the health of your family is to QUIT.

Of course this can be easier said than done, which is why so many people still smoke, despite all of the evidence that it harms you! Taking the steps to decide that you want to quit smoking is a huge commitment.  The dedication that is needed is absolutely essential to your success and can often be the one factor that will determine how successful you are.  If you find that you are struggling to quit smoking you are certainly not alone, and seeking out appropriate help is key to finding success in your quest to quit smoking.

Looking at all of the excuses, reasons, purposes and methods that pertain to quitting smoking, there are generally two main factors that will determine your overall success.  Without these two factors you will almost always fail, but with them you will typically walk away a successful non-smoker.

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

1. Your first critical success factor will be being determined to quit for your own reasons.  This means you need to decide for yourself that you want to quit.  Having the idea to quit smoking forced upon you will generally not work.  You have to decide all on your own that you are ready to quit smoking - period. This dedication to stop smoking will often be a huge driving force in your battle against cigarettes and you will need to make a firm decision in order to stay strong.  Additionally, as everyone around you is asking why you want to quit, having a good answer that you believe in will help you to resolve your determination each time you answer.

This might sound too simplistic, but actually deciding for yourself that you want to quit is a huge boost to your state of mind.  If you approach quitting smoking with the idea that someone else is forcing you, then often you will make small mistakes that can sabotage your efforts.  You may not recognize these errors, but they are typically there.  Approaching the task of quitting smoking on your own will ensure that you are setting out to be successful and quit for good.  Those who quit for the reasons of someone else typically quit for only a short period of time.  Those who quit for themselves are the people who quit for good.

2. Your second critical success factor will be the approach you take.  If you approach the task of quitting smoking with the confidence that you will succeed no matter what, you will find that your determination is much stronger.  This increased determination can be very helpful as you are trying to fight off those late night cravings, or even the times when the urge to smoke appears and nobody is around to help you through it.  As a smoker, there are plenty of times when you will need your own self-control to really pull you through.  This comes from having the confidence to know that you can succeed.

(Photo credit: elycefeliz)

If you merely approach quitting smoking with an attitude that you think you might be able to quit, you will be sending yourself mixed signals.  These can create huge problems for yourself as you are struggling to maintain the self-control that is necessary to quit successfully. Without the determination that you can in fact do this, you will fall to the temptation to smoke again much more easily.  It is not a simple task to quit smoking, and many people struggle for years to quit fully. 

Believing that you can quit smoking - even at some point is what will be a driving factor in your success.  The longer it takes to quit smoking the more likely you are to actually lose your determination.  This can spell disaster.  Keeping your determination strong starts from within, and you need to be able to justify to yourself, your harshest critic, exactly why you want to quit smoking.  The people in your family who are there for support are just for backup support.  You are your own best cheerleader and celebrating the small victories that you accomplish is very important to your success.  If you take the time to really examine these two factors and put them into place, you will be in a great position to quit for good.

For More Help Quitting Smoking, Try These Resources: