SMOKING & VAPING - 3 Techniques to Work your way out of it

Dedicating this article to all my connections who want to quit SMOKING/VAPING. Sharing some of the techniques which I learnt in the process and have gone through the hardest times to practice these.

I have been able to use these techniques to quit other non-healthy habits (I can dedicate couple of other articles for those if there is demand and this one helps).

Facts -

1. Have been completely off smoking for over 2 Years now, started this journey 4 years back- took be good 1.5 Years to understand it's a problem.

2. It's not an easy path, can break the toughest of people and it's within your limits more than you know it; I always knew I could.

3. I went from 20 Cigarettes of Classic Milds a day to None; now I hate the smell of it.

4. Nicotine patches or gums are a total waste of money. It did not work for me- my recommendation would be not fall for it

First things first-

1. Acknowledge the problem; know that, it is a problem and don't call it an addiction. Once you start calling it an addiction, it haunts you.

-Don't run away from calling the smoking habit as a problem and more you procrastinate solving it more you suffer.

A friend of mine told me once "Our minds have tiny switches for everything, you need to know where it is"

Technique-

-Realization of a problem exist, solves 90% of it- Start comparing yourself from the time you didn't smoke to the present. Most of us would have started smoking in our college where it was termed "cool"; it helps if you start measuring your health - weight, O2 levels, blood pressure etc.. and compare it with a non smoker's data (may be a close friend's data or consult a doctor). By this exercise you will yourself realize what's wrong with you, I realized my skin tone was dulling because of excessive smoking and that was my trigger (find your trigger).

-There has been so many studies about smoking - pick one of the articles/studies to understand the harmful effects of smoking (this comes under not running away from the problem). Stick to understanding the entire problem (in this case smoking) and know that the majority of the most successful people take care of themselves more than anything.

2. Habits are formed in your head; everyone knows this but do you understand it? Let me try and explain this-

- Your WILL POWER is the strongest, you need to UNLEASH that from your head.

- Some of the habits, like for me SMOKING was about taking my mind off the stress.

- Smoking to me was the start of the day; for many I know its the same for over 10-15 years now. It's imbibed in our daily routine.

Technique-

-Change your routine : Find a routine which works for you the best and does not involve smoking/vaping. For me including a well planned morning routine worked and focusing on my family was my motivator.

-Understand that it's harming you more than helping : We all understand (with scientific proofs) that nicotine is not good for us and govt. does enough to make us realize that everyday.

-Creating a stress free environment : Cardio exercises help us more than a pack of cigarettes, in fact nicotine only does a temporary job to help you work out of it.

3. Taking it gradually; No one becomes a overnight success in anything, be it sports, be it business, be it knowledge and hence the same applies for smoking.

-You cannot succeed if you think that you can COMPLETELY STOP smoking and it will work for you from the very next day, in fact this approach might demotivate you more than anything

-Not making it sound like the biggest problem in the world will be a better approach; you need to explain it to yourself how you can stop it with a plan.

Technique-

-Plan your overall approach and in fact put dates for it (works for most), my plan looked like this; remember you don't need to share your plans to anyone (this is your personal plan)

First Week : 20 Cigarettes per day Second Week : 19 Cigarettes per day Third Week : 18 Cigarettes per day and so on..

This way you don't have to push yourself too much and your mind also adjusts to the new routine.

-Explain your circle of smoking friends why you want to do this and be firm about it, again you don't need to explain yourself to anyone so please don't. Keep your plans with yourself, people will understand if you are clear about it and eventually understand. Fortunately, I have had good friends and circle who have been supportive of my approach. Stay clear of people who push you back into it, you don't need them anyway.

This article is completely based out of experience and some help from reading online from various sources while I was developing these techniques. I am happy if this helps you work your way out of smoking or vaping - SPREAD the word if it worked.

Thank you

Shashank Roy