I quit smoking over a year ago and wanted to share a few mental shifts that helped me get my mind right before I actually put down cigarettes for good. In the title, I refer to them as “secrets”—mostly because I didn’t even realize I had mentally prepared this way until the other day. So until recently they were secrets to me too, lol.
If you are reading this because you have recently quit smoking or are seriously thinking about it, I want to start off by saying congratulations. That’s huge, you can do it and I am glad you are here. Recognizing that you want to quit smoking is a massive step in a very positive and life changing direction. But, let’s be real, quitting smoking is hard. It has been my experience that being in the right place mentally increases your chances of quitting and I personally believe they are the reason I am still smoke free today.
I didn’t realize this at the time, but looking back I mentally prepared myself to quit smoking long before I actually put my last cigarette down. I personally believe the “pre-game” preparation I did had and continues to have such a powerful impact on my success that I wanted to share it with others who are looking to put their last cigarette down.
3 Secrets to How I Mentally Prepared to Quit Smoking
Below you’ll find the mental preparation that I used to rewrite my relationship with cigarettes and quit smoking.
Step 1: Gathering the Evidence
Before I officially quit, I had to teach myself to see smoking for what it really was and how it was impacting my quality of life. I began to hyper focus on the negatives and be honest with myself about everything I was allowing it to steal from me.
- My health – I couldn’t breathe properly, my energy was crap, and if I am being 100 percent honest I had very little to no drive for life.
- My family – I knew cigarettes were slowly killing me and I had to recognize that by continuing to smoke I was giving some of my best days up to cigarettes rather than my loved ones. I am a MeeMaw now and my youngest daughter is already 16 years old.
- My money – I was spending about $10 a day, about $300 a month. I was literally paying to slowly kill myself.
I can’t say that everything I was dealing with was directly related to cigarettes but many of them certainly were and I didn’t hesitate to blame them. Which allowed me to stop making excuses for the habit and see it for what it was truly doing to me. This made it next to impossible to justify smoking.
Step 2: Shifting the Blame
I had to stop blaming myself for my poor decision to ever start smoking and separate the habit. By taking the time to note all the negative impacts cigarettes had on my life, I was able to turn cigarettes into the bad guy- the one taking time from my family, stealing my health, and money.
This helped me personally stop seeing smoking as a coping method and start seeing it as something that was holding me back in life. Which was a powerful position for me personally because I was able to start seeing smoking as something that was actively dragging me down rather than adding to my life.
Step 3: Changing the Narrative
Once I flipped the switch and was able to see cigarettes for what they really were to me, it was the final piece of the puzzle. It was a powerful position to be in too. Rather than thinking about maybe trying to quit smoking and coming up with excuses as to why I couldn’t yet I was finally in a position to see it as I was choosing to reclaim my life.
This mental change not only helped me quit smoking but it has helped me stay smoke free for over a year with no plans of returning. And, looking back, cigarettes were somewhat of a villain or a bad guy that I was defeating. I needed to see them in this light, to get rid of them forever.
Fast-Tracking the Positives
I honestly did not realize it at the time, but by preparing myself mentally like this it set me up for long term success. I have quit smoking in the past, but this time was different and the only thing different was how I mentally prepared myself for this leap. I spent so much time hyper-focusing on the negatives before I quit, I was able to immediately recognize and appreciate the positives when I put down my first cigarette.
There were so many positives who would have thought that my last cigarette would be the first day of the rest of my life. I honestly believe this shift in perspective is one of the reasons I have been able to stay smoke free for over a year with zero plans of ever picking up another smoke. I remember life before I was smoke free and there is no way I would go back and I certainly wouldn’t trade the life I am living now for the life I was living before I quit smoking.
Since quitting smoking, I have reclaimed my life, went on a massive health journey. If you would like to learn more about my health journey be sure to head over and read my post Up is an Action: 7 Lessons from My 70lb Weight Loss Journey.
If you have recently quit smoking or are thinking about smoking, what is something you are struggling with or have found helpful?
Just a quick heads-up—I am not a doctor or a medical professional! I’m just a regular person sharing the personal mindset shifts that worked for me. If you’re looking for medical advice or cessation aids to quit smoking, definitely reach out to a healthcare professional or you can check out the Benefits of Quitting Smoking on the CDC website. If you want to dive deeper into the mind over matter aspect of the post, there is an neat article titled Does Mind Over Matter Really Matter? over at Psychology Today.
