Life Style

The Clash of Minds

“I have to quit smoking.” You’ve probably said this many times when deciding to quit smoking.

Maybe you wake up in the morning coughing and feeling nauseous because you were chain smoking the night before.

Perhaps you catch yourself running out of breath at odd times.

Or maybe a loved one pursued you to stop and you thought you should give it a go because deep down you know they are right.

And although you have the best intentions about quitting….you still find yourself lighting up a cigarette after a few days.

Now here’s where it gets interesting.

People go back to smoking even they’re using nicotine gums, patches or pills.

They light up a cigarette even if they know how much it’s harming their health.

They smoke one cigarette after the other even if they know how many money problems, restrictions, and family arguments smoking is causing them.

BUT WHY?

Why would you keep on smoking, even though you know you shouldn’t? 

Smokers are not crazy. There’s a pretty simple explanation as to why they don’t quit.

And it has to do with, what else?

This complex machine called “mind.”  Our mind has more or less two aspects.

Our logic and our emotions (remember that our emotions are part of our brain, too).

Sometimes our logic and our emotions work together. Other times, they don’t.

For example, just remember the last time you attacked a delicious cake, even though you’d promised yourself to go on a diet (or is it just me?).

What happened there?

Your logic wanted you to go on a diet, but your emotions wanted you to eat and feel good at that moment.

There was a clash of minds. Your logic and your emotions were not on the same page.

Well, that’s exactly what happens with smoking.

Let me explain.

Deciding to Quit Smoking: Logic vs. Emotions

So your logic says you must stop smoking because you are harming your health, your pocket and the feelings of those who love you.

On the other hand, your emotions may not be on board. 

Your emotions might be telling you that you need smoking to feel relaxed, happy and fulfilled.

As a result, you feel worried about becoming cranky without a cigarette. Or about what you’re gonna do with your hands when you’re bored.

Or about how you can relax without smoking.

And let’s face it: if you feel bad about quitting, then your decision to quit will not stick with you.

Know what I mean?

That’s why we only use the CBQ quit smoking method. Because this is the only method that removes your desire for cigarettes. Here I show you how to stop desiring cigarettes with the CBQ method.

But how exactly do your emotions affect your psychology and your decision to quit smoking?

The answer is simple. Your emotions play some mind tricks on you that make you postpone quitting.

These are not vague, wishy-washy, wizard-of-Oz kind mind tricks. No. I hate these things.

These mind tricks (or as they’re called in Psychology, cognitive biases), happen to all of us for all kinds of things. It’s just how our mind works.

The good news is that once you know these mind tricks, something great will happen:

You will be able to make your emotions work for you and help you quit smoking.

Yes, knowing about these mind tricks gives you power over them. Because when you know how your emotions work, you can change them so you can quit smoking and feel GOOD about it.

Always remember that you are in charge. 

Ok so here are the 3 most common mind tricks that your mind plays on you when you try to quit smoking and what to do to avoid them.

Ready?

Let’s roll.

The 3 Mind Tricks

Mind trick #1. “I will quit later. Nothing will happen to me.”

How many times have you said “I will quit on Monday”, or after Christmas, Summer, a promotion or any stressful event….

…but when that time came, you postponed quitting for another time in the future?

It just wasn’t urgent enough to quit at that moment.

If that has happened to you, is because of a very common mind trick, called “The Present Bias.”

What’s this Present Bias? 

The present bias makes us care ONLY about what’s happening now.

While living and enjoying the present moment is good and healthy, it sometimes leads us to ignore our future.

And that’s a problem when it comes to quitting smoking.

Because not worrying about the future, makes you:

• Feel invincible.
• And focus only on the instant gratification you get from a cigarette.

So you stop thinking about the consequences of smoking. 

As a result, the “I will quit tomorrow” becomes “I will quit next week”, next week becomes next year and next year becomes never.

Another way to spot the present bias mind trick is by noticing if you have thoughts like:

“I know smokers who lived up to 90 years old”

or “Yes, smoking causes cancer, but I don’t think this could ever happen to me.”

This mind trick is responsible for most of our bad habits – unhealthy eating, drinking and yes, procrastinating.

But like everything else, you can easily overcome it.

What to do: 

To overcome the present bias mind trick, you need to create a vivid image of how your life will be like in 10 or 20 years from now if you keep on smoking.

Let’s do this here.

Ok, so the craving strikes.

STEP A: Close your eyes and picture your life 10 years from now as a SMOKER.
Where are you?
What are you doing?
Who are you with?
How is your health?
Make this image really detailed and keep it in your mind for a few moments.

STEP B: Visualize yourself 10 years from now as a NON-SMOKER.

See yourself in the future looking vibrant, healthy and energetic.

You are healthy and strong. You don’t worry about how smoking might be harming your health anymore.

You feel free.
Feel how it feels like to take full uninterrupted breaths.

What are you doing with all the money you have saved by quitting smoking?

Picture yourself enjoying your life with your loved ones. And hold on to that beautiful image for a few moments.

Moving on…

Mind trick #2. “I will lose my only comfort.”

While quitting, you might have thoughts and worries about what you’re gonna lose or miss by quitting smoking.

Your mind might tell you that you have too many things going on in your life. And that smoking is your only way of coping; your crutch.

It will tell you that you can’t give up smoking. Because if you do, you will be so anxious and irritated that you might fight with your loved ones or your coworkers.

Yes, every time you have a craving, your mind will pop in only to remind you of all the emotional comfort you will lose by quitting.

Does this sound familiar?

If yes, you are not alone.

This mind trick is called “The Loss Aversion Bias.”

The WHAT?

This mind trick comes from our strong innate desire to avoid losing something.

In fact, we prefer NOT to lose something we already have than to gain something new.

Think about it.

The pain of losing $200 from your wallet is greater than the pleasure of winning $200 in a lottery.

Well, the same applies to quitting smoking.

The fear of what you will LOSE by quitting -your habit, a stress-aid, your crutch-… overshadows all the things you will GAIN by quitting. 

Think about it.

These are some of the benefits you think you will lose by quitting smoking. You probably believe that smoking helps you:

• Relieve your anxiety
• Socialize
• Enjoy life and its pleasures
• Take a mental break
• Keep your hands busy
• Cope with boredom
• Concentrate
• Enjoy your “me-time”
• Or even control your weight.

And these are only a few of the benefits you will GAIN by quitting smoking. You probably want to:

• Be healthy once again
• Get your peace of mind back
• Breathe better
• Have more energy
• Stop worrying about how smoking might be harming your health
• Get rid of the cigarette smell
• Stop wasting a fortune on cigarettes
• Reclaim the lost youth from your appearance
• And live a long life with your loved ones.
• Or maybe just you are sick of being control by a nicotine stick.

What this all boils down to, is that your mind tends to ignore all the benefits of quitting smoking.

But the truth is that all of these benefits are there. You just have to focus on them.

The benefits of quitting are real. The benefits of smoking are an illusion.

What to do: Make a list of all the things you will gain by quitting smoking.

Every time you have a thought about what you will lose by quitting smoking counterattack it with a thought about what you will gain by quitting smoking.

After a while, your mind will naturally focus on the benefits of quitting, and you will start WANTING to quit like never before.

Mind trick #3. “I can’t be happy without my smokes.”

If you’ve ever felt too attached to your smoking habit or if you’ve ever felt that quitting might take some happy moments away from your daily life…. again, there is an explanation for this.

This mind trick is called “The Familiarity Bias.”

What’s that now?

The familiarity bias is when our emotions tell us to stick to what we know.

We are creatures of habit, so keeping a routine that’s familiar to us, makes us feel stable, safe and in control.

Fact is, we tend to choose familiar things over unfamiliar ones,  even if we have all the evidence that it’s not the BEST choice.

For example, we tend to buy a well-advertised product than risk trying something new. When we like a specific brand of milk, we stick to it.

Also, we like the people who are similar to us because they feel familiar.

It’s human nature.

We feel safer doing what we know- even though our habits might be destructive to our health and well-being.

And the same thing applies to smoking. 

Although your logic knows it’s the worst option for your health, your familiarity bias mind trick keeps you stuck to what you know – your habit.

But of course, you can overcome it.

What to Do when Deciding to Quit Smoking: 

The key here is becoming familiar with the idea of being a non-smoker. Sounds simple. And it is.

What you can do is find 1 or 2 people who have quit smoking and ask them how their lives have changed since then.

(It can be someone you know from your social circles or even someone’s story you found on the internet.) 

Ok, so you know the 3 most common mind tricks your mind plays on you when you think about quitting. What’s next?

What comes next, is knowing what are the 4 quit smoking stages. Following these 4 stages will help you quit smoking and never miss it for the rest of your life.

They are simple and they work for all smokers because they follow the exact 4 stages that our brain gets attached or detached from a habit or an addiction.

Click here to access to the video of the 4 quit smoking stages. 

All you need to do is enter your name and email address so I can send you the link to your video.

Get the exclusive video of the 4 stages now.

Why do you need things to do instead of smoking?

One of the biggest side effects of quitting smoking is the cigarette cravings.

Cravings can be extremely overwhelming. They create anxiety, agony, frustration… And the more you resist a smoking urge with willpower… then more you want to smoke!

But what makes a craving SO overwhelming?

Truth be told, a craving is nothing more than a physical sensation just like hunger. There is no physical pain.

No spasms, no cramps, no aches.

So what is it?

What makes the need to smoke so overwhelming is the mental and emotional agony that this need will never subside…. unless you give in and smoke.

But what if.. when you felt like smoking… you did something else instead?

Then you could feel better. And feeling good would make it easier to stay away from cigarettes.

Right?

In fact, adopting new healthy habits to replace smoking altogether is what you do during the 4th and last stage of the CBQ method, “Condition Your Smoke-Free Life.”

Think about it. You can’t just forget or suppress your smoking habit, which has been a part of your life for decades.

You have to replace it with another healthy habit.

That’s what the 4th quit smoking stage is all about. Now there are 3 quit smoking stages before that, and 94% of smokers who follow these 4 stages, in the right sequence, quit successfully.

But for now, let’s focus on the 4th quit smoking stage and see what to do instead of smoking so you can occupy your mind and hands during the 3-minute period of a craving – and feel relaxed in the process.

6 Things to Do Instead of Smoking

1. Practice Gratitude

Practice WHAT?

You might wonder what gratitude has to do with cravings and anxiety.

Well, research from The Heart Math Institute and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), shows that regular practice of gratitude can dramatically change your body’s chemistry and reduce stress. Amazing, right?

And here’s the thing: IT’S VERY EASY to practice gratitude so you can feel good without needing cigarettes.

But before I get into that, let me tell you why practicing gratitude can help you beat stress when quitting.

Why Practicing Gratitude is One of the Best Things to Do Instead of Smoking

1. Gratitude makes you happier.

In a study, scientists asked a group of people to keep a daily journal of all the things they were grateful for. And they asked another group to record all the things that annoyed them.

And guess what?! The people who wrote down the things they were grateful for were MUCH happier, determined, enthusiastic and energetic than the group of people who were focused on the negative aspects of their lives.

   2. You cannot feel grateful and stressed at the same time.

It is practically impossible! Also, while feeling grateful you can’t feel depressed, cranky, or angry- which are common when stopping smoking. We can’t experience negative feelings when we feel grateful. Doesn’t happen.

Think about it like this: your stress is like a small child that’s easily distracted. When a child cries and you give them a toy, they will get distracted and stop crying. The same way, gratitude is like a toy that will instantly end any anxious thought.
You will be surprised by how much the practice of gratitude will reduce your anxiety and improve your relationships.
Let’s see how to do it.

Do the following exercise in a quiet place so you can relax and stay away from your smokes.

Step 1. Rate your stress levels

I want you to rate how stressed, worried or anxious you feel, on a scale from 1 to 10. 1 for “relaxed”, and 10 for “I’m freaking out. I need a cigarette now”. This is important, because at the end of this technique we want to see how much you have reduced your stress.

Step 2. Focus on what you have

Close your eyes and begin to focus on something that you have in your life right now. Something that you feel a genuine sense of appreciation for.
If you allowed yourself to be grateful for something, what could it be?

Start by looking at the small things in your life- someone holding the door for you, a conversation with a stranger, a child’s innocent smile, a beautiful day, the fact that you are alive and can see, walk, talk and feel!

As you go on, focus on the bigger things you’re thankful for in your life. It can be your family, friends, work, your home or an adversity you were able to overcome.

It doesn’t matter what you feel thankful for. Remember, you are after the feeling of gratitude. And when you get it, you will feel an immense sense of relief.

If you need some inspiration, click here to listen to these gratitude affirmations.Sometimes, I start my day by listening to this video and it helps me tune into a positive mood. You can find many similar videos on Youtube.

After spending a few minutes on this step, move on to step 3.

Step 3. Write 3 things you are grateful for

Take a piece of paper, a notes app on your phone or a notebook and write 3 things you are grateful for. It doesn’t matter how many things you thought about during step 2. Just select 3 and write them down.

For example:
I am thankful for…
I appreciate…. in my life
I am grateful I have….

Later you may want to expand and write why you are thankful for those things.
Tip: Writing will help you keep your hands busy so you can avoid smoking.

Note: Don’t worry about what you write. Your journal is for you.

Here are some examples of gratitude journal.

Step 4. Rate your stress levels again

Stop and check. On a scale from 1 to 10, how stressed do you feel now?

I promise you this: If you do all the above steps, your stress will drop at least 5 points.

So that’s it. Sometimes we are too bothered by the things we don’t have, that we forget to see the things we do have.

So I invite you to do this exercise. It will give you instant results. And if you do it often, you will soon find yourself escaping any stressful feeling in a matter of seconds.

You will be able to do this exercise with your eyes open while driving, while sitting at your desk, before you sleep at night or even while arguing with someone.

2. Visualize the Healthier You

Ok, so the craving strikes.

STEP A: Close your eyes and picture your life 10 years from now as a SMOKER.
Where are you?
What are you doing?
Who are you with?
How is your health?
Make this image really detailed and keep it in your mind for a few moments.

STEP B: Visualize yourself 10 years from now as a NON-SMOKER.

See yourself in the future looking vibrant, healthy and energetic.

You are healthy and strong. You don’t worry about how smoking might be harming your health anymore.

You feel free. Feel how it feels like to take full uninterrupted breaths. 

What are you doing with all the money you have saved by quitting smoking?

Picture yourself enjoying your life with your loved ones. And hold on to that beautiful image for a few moments. 

Now tell me, which image is more compelling? The first or the second?

The second, of course!

This comparison will help you see past your momentary desire to smoke.

Instead of focusing on the cigarette that’s in front of you… you focus on the big picture and the benefits of quitting smoking: improving your health, having more quality time with your children, watching your grandchildren grow up, and living your life feeling free from cigarettes. You can see what happens when you quit smoking, here. 

Booster Tip: While doing this visualization exercise, play around with a stress ball or fake-smoke a straw so that you wouldn’t feel your hands empty without a cigarette.

3. Keep Your Hands Busy

One way to keep your hands busy without smoking is by playing any musical instrument.

Music has a healing effect on our nerves, mind, and soul. Actually, Research shows that music can reduce your quit smoking anxiety.

But playing a musical instrument might have even more to offer when you are stopping smoking.

Because you can keep your hands and mind busy at the same time.

In a nutshell, playing an instrument can help you avoid smoking for 2 reasons:
1. It calms you down and eliminates any quit smoking anxiety
2. It keeps your hands and mind busy.

What instruments can you play?

Any musical instrument will work! If you have a piano, go for it! The cheapest and easiest option is the harmonica. You don’t have to take lessons or anything. Just start playing every time you feel like lighting up.

Not into playing music? Moving on…

4. Grab a Book

Pick a book and get immersed in it.
It can be a fiction, biography, comics, romance, history, poetry, crime or self-development book – whatever makes your heart sing!

And when you have a cigarette craving, start reading and shift your focus to the characters of the book; imagine yourself living inside the book.

The duration of a craving equals to 5-6 book pages for an average reader. So reading will help you avoid smoking easily and effortlessly.

I can promise you this: focusing on the content of the book instead of a cigarette, will reduce your stress.

What kind of book? Any form of a book – physical or digital- will do as long as you hold something while reading. That way, you will occupy your mind and hands at the same time and therefore, avoid smoking.

And since I’m talking about books…

5. Write it Down

Destress by writing down your thoughts.

You can keep a journal of your daily impressions, memoirs, or to-do lists. You could write about your quit attempt. Or you could jot down anything that’s happening in your life.

Expressing yourself will help you discharge negative thinking, worries, and stress.

To sum up: When you have a cigarette craving, take a pen or your phone and start writing your thoughts. Any thoughts on any subject. This is one of the best habits to replace smoking, and it will definitely keep you busy until the craving is over.

Remember that it doesn’t matter what you write or how good your writing is. The important thing is to keep your hands and mind busy so that you wouldn’t smoke.

Booster Tip: While writing your journal (or reading your book)…. sip on a tea. Drinking something will give you oral satisfaction, so it will be even easier to keep cigarettes away from your mouth.

If you want to know how to quit smoking without gaining weight and while keeping yourself busy, let’s go to the next point.

6. Move Your Body

According to this study published in the journal Addiction:

“Relatively small doses of exercise should be recommended as an aid to managing cigarette cravings and withdrawal symptoms.”

This could be riding a bike, jogging, playing tennis or even releasing your tension to a punching bag. Or even taking a 10-minute walk!
Really, anything will do as long as you move your body.

While your heart is pumping, you won’t even realize you have a craving! It’s science.

Also, by exercising you are:

• Letting go of your daily stress by releasing toxins and increasing the feel-good chemicals in your brain. If you are worried that you will have increased anxiety after quitting smoking, then make sure you add some exercise to your weekly schedule.
• Burning calories. Not only you won’t need to resort to food to distract yourself from smoking… but you will also get slimmer!

One more thing: my sincere advice is to make these activities habitual. Because the more cigarettes you avoid, the more confident you feel about quitting smoking once and for all.

Is Knowing What Things to Do Instead of Smoking Enough to Help You Quit?

Ok, listen.

Keeping yourself busy during a craving and replacing smoking with another habit is very important for your quit smoking success.

But all that happens in the last quit smoking stage: “Condition Your Smoke Free Life”; the stage where you make sure you remain a non-smoker and you don’t relapse.

Before this last stage, there are 3 more stages that you need to go through.

If you don’t follow all the 4 stages of quitting smoking, then you might quit feeling deprived, or think that you are not ready or even struggle with quit smoking symptoms like loss of concentration, sleep imbalances or irritation.

But you don’t have to!

If you go through the 4 stop smoking stages, then you will quit smoking easily, naturally and permanently.

Click here to access the free exclusive video of the 4 quit smoking stages.  

All you need to do is enter your name and email address so I can send you the link to your video.

Get the exclusive video of the 4 stages now.

It is free, and you will love it! (Plus, there is a surprise waiting for you at the end of the video.)