How Can You Quit Smoking?

Quit smoking tips like these to help you stop smoking have been around for years. Some of the suggestions you'll read below will connect with you - others may not. And that's fine. Take a scan through them - if something clicks give it a try.

This is just one of a number of articles to come, containing tips to help you quit smoking so come back again and see what new tips I've been able to dig up for you. To see more tips click the link at the end of the article to visit the Quit Smoking Breakthrough.

Here's as basic a quit smoking tip as you can get - "do not smoke any cigarette's at all". According to CDC if you try to smoke a fewer number of cigarettes but not stop completely you're more likely to end up smoking the same amount again.

They add that low tar and nicotine cigarettes "do little good" and that the only "safe" choice is to quit completely, whether it's quitting cold turkey or with the help of some kind of aid.

Another tip to help quit smoking is to "write down why you want to quit". Be specific about what you're looking for out of this effort to quit smoking. Especially in the areas of you life (day to day, and long term), you're health, your family and your children. You may find it surprising just how helpful it is to have a heartfelt "reason why" to help you to quit smoking.

My wife, Trisha, quit cold turkey, no aids, no gum, just cold turkey. Her "reason why" came in the form of a man who was leading exercises on a bluff overlooking the Pacific Ocean in Hawaii.

This guy looked like he was maybe in his late 50's. It turned out he was 93-years-old! When he said his youthfulness was in part to not smoking cigarettes - that was all she wrote! Trisha quit that very moment. That single experience was all she needed to toss the cigarettes for good. Her "reason why".

She still had to be strong about not smoking, it but that "reason why" was strong enough to keep her strong enough about not smoking and making her quit permanent.

Can you think of a "reason why" that's that important to you?

One tip is to realize that "it will take effort to quit smoking". The CDC says that the habit forming effects of nicotine and the bad moods and strong desires of "really wanting to smoke" have to be accepted as something you'll have to deal with. Put another way they said - "there is no easy way".

I have to say here that this statement "there is no easy way" needs to be taken very seriously. Especially if you use any of the "standard" ways or techniques for quitting cigarettes.

I found the truth of this statement every time I'd tried and failed to quit smoking. Over a dozen try's to quit I was pulled back time and again. So yes, you do need to expect it to take effort - maybe a ton of effort - everybody's different.

You see every "standard" way of quitting smoking, whether it's nicotine patches or gum, or pharmaceutical drugs, hypnosis, or herbal formulas, are designed only to "help" you deal with the cravings and urges, the emotional unpredictability and all the other issues you have to deal with when trying to quit smoking cigarettes.

They weren't designed to actually affect the "smoking habit" that ties you to cigarette smoking. With "standard" ways of quitting cigarettes you have to accept that you will have to wrestle with the "smoking habit" you've developed. You may have to wrestle with this "smoking habit" long after the nicotine has left your body. It's an unfortunate fact.

Yes, it's true that I eventually found a way that made quitting cigarettes automatic for myself. A technique that actually made me feel like a non-smoker the instant I quit - 20+ years ago. A technique that actually did "dismantle" my smoking habit. So when I quit, I felt just like I'd never smoked a cigarette before in my life. After over 20 years as a smoker. It really took me by surprise.

But for right now keep this CDC tip in mind and fully expect it to take from a little - to a lot - of effort to quit smoking cigarettes.

Always remember that since half of all adult smokers who have tried to quit smoking have done so successfully - you can quit smoking too. It helps to know you're not alone - when you're going through difficult times. Whether it's quitting smoking cigarettes or any other difficulties. (I think this is one of the attractions to watching Dr. Phil)

So when you're being tugged at from all sides by the urges and desires and memories you have of enjoying a cigarette, remember that many people have quit the smoking habit, so you can too.

That's enough of Quit Smoking Breakthrough's tips to help stop smoking for this time around. More to come.