Smokers these days come under a lot of pressure. Take Duncan for example, and just see what his average day has turned into…
Alarm goes off at 6.30 am and he stretches out to reach for his cigarettes on the side table, grabs his dressing gown and slopes off downstairs to have that wonderful first puff of the day…
What a drag… nowadays since his wife quit smoking he has to sneak outside but hey who’s complaining for today it’s not too cold. Gone are the days when they snuggled up in a warm bed smoking and chatting together… Now all she seems to do is nag him about quitting… going on and on about how unhealthy it is… even the kids have latched on to it and doing the same.
As if he didn’t know… you can’t even watch television or pick up a magazine or paper these days without seeing something about smoking and cancer or heart disease. Talk about pull on the heart strings.
And what makes matters worse is that his GP has now jumped on the bandwagon since he was diagnosed with high blood pressure.
There’s no pleasure in smoking anymore – just guilt and a sense of being weak because no matter how much Duncan has tried he just hasn’t been able to make it last for longer than a few days. The cravings just get to him…
A couple more cigarettes before he heads of for work…. 
Some days Duncan thinks to himself maybe he should quit and makes a decision to give it another go, but what Duncan doesn’t realise is that quitting just because ‘it’s bad for you’ or because he ‘ought to for the sake of the family’ just isn’t enough.
If Duncan wants to stop smoking permanently then he has got to know why? What’s in it for him?
And the same is true for everyone…
Like Duncan if you want to quit smoking you have to have a powerful reason to quit. If you feel you are under pressure from others at home, work, or even your GP then you might think that is a good reason to quit, but unless you really want to quit for yourself, then pleasing others and submitting to pressure can often lead to resentment, and ultimately drive you to smoking again.
To be successful, a commitment to quitting smoking must come from the heart. It has to be YOU that wants to quit, and the reasons are going to have to be about how YOU will gain benefits as a non-smoker.
The only person who can stop YOU smoking is YOU. While you may understand and accept the reasons why others may want you to stop unless you are totally committed about what’s in it for you, then you run the risk of failing.
The desired outcome, being a person who does not smoke, has to worth the time, effort and investment that you will put in. Your focus has to be on the end result and not on what you are missing by not smoking. It has to be your desire and belief to be successful.
Ask yourself what it is you really want…
A while back I made a short video that I think will help you answer that question
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PRhxeimGtE
