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How Roy Quit Smoking After 42 Years with The CBQ Program In 2021 & Why He’s Proud to Be A “Quitter”

by Nasia Davos

Welcome to episode #28 of Ask an Ex. In this interview, Roy Starke from Ohio, US, is sharing his story of how he quit smoking after 42 years with the Cognitive Behavioral Quitting (CBQ) Program!

After many quit attempts, Roy became a happy non-smoker on the 9th of September, 2021, without withdrawals, and he’s proud to be a quitter! Not only did he quit smoking, but he also quit alcohol 34 years ago!

Tune in to watch:

  • How the CBQ Program is different than the AA 12-Step Program.
  • Roy’s aha moment – this made him believe he could finally succeed.
  • Why Roy chose the CBQ Program over other approaches despite being skeptical of anything and everything online.
  • What was the nicotine withdrawal like for him after 42 years of smoking.
  • How quitting smoking impacted Roy’s life.
  • How Roy handles anger after quitting smoking and alcohol.
  • Roy’s wisdom and advice for those struggling to stop smoking.

Enjoy!

Chapters
00:00 – Intro
00:37 – How Roy Started Smoking
04:01 – Quitting Alcohol with AA vs Quitting Smoking with the CBQ Program
07:29 – Coping With Life As a Non-Smoker
09:07 – Roy’s AHA Moment That Led to Success
12:56 – Why It’s Important to Identify Your Smoking Triggers
14:40 – Roy’s Inspiring Mindset While Quitting Smoking
16:22 – Why Roy Chose the CBQ Program
20:01 – Experiencing No Withdrawal Symptoms After 42 Years of Smoking
24:34 – Being the Biggest Quitter
31:01 – Handling Anger After Quitting Smoking and Alcohol
33:02 – The Benefits of Quitting Smoking and Weight Gain
35:23 – Roy’s Advice for Skeptics and Those Struggling to Quit Smoking
38:42 – Conclusion

About Ask An Ex

ASK AN EX is an interview series featuring inspiring ex-smokers who succeeded with the CBQ Method™

And they tell you everything – how they did it, what helped them, what challenged them, their fears, motivations and aspirations.

Because the best person to ask about quitting smoking, is an Ex who’s been exactly where you are right now. Every EX shares their unique perspective and wisdom on quitting smoking (because everyone has a unique mix of background, mindset, and experiences). 

And they do it for 1 reason: to help YOU become an EX too. 

Get started with the CBQ Method (Free): 
http://bit.ly/startcbq
Join the CBQ Method Facebook Support Community:
http://bit.ly/cbqmethodcommunity
SUBSCRIBE to this channel to get more videos like this to help you quit smoking:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRPLgL5_AAHwtnP9Qwu8tsw?sub_confirmation=1

Filed Under: Ask An Ex Tagged With: ask an ex, ask an ex episode, ask an ex interview, cbq method, cbq method success story, cbq program, cbq program member, cbq program success story

How Teri Quit Smoking with The CBQ Program in 2021 & Improved Her Mental Health

by Nasia Davos

Welcome to episode #25 of Ask an Ex. In this interview, our absolutely inspiring member Teri Edge from West Virginia, US, shares her transformative journey of quitting smoking with the Cognitive Behavioral Quitting (CBQ) Program and the lessons that helped her along the way.

After 44 years of smoking and trying every approach – from programs by the American Heart Association and Chantix to hypnosis, both individual and a group setting- Teri became a happy non-smoker on the 19th of September, 2021.

Not only did she stop smoking, but she also found it easy. Yes, easy!

In this conversation with Nasia Davos, Teri is generously sharing:

  • How quitting smoking impacted her mental health and existing anxiety.
  • How breaking free affected her physical health.
  • Her experience with quitting smoking over the years and why this time was different.
  • Her favorite lessons from the CBQ Program, including how to quit smoking without willpower and what is the single most important key to success.

Enjoy!

Chapters
00:00 – Intro
00:49 – How Teri Tried To Quit Smoking
04:26 – Teri’s Aha Moment
08:31 – Teri’s Motivation to Quit Smoking
13:18 – Physical Benefits of Quitting Smoking
14:19 – Anxiety & Mental Health Benefits of Quitting Smoking
18:41 – How the CBQ Program Helps
22:00 – Quitting With Mindpower Instead of Willpower
26:10 – What Teri Learned From Quitting Smoking
29:10 – Why Teri Chose the CBQ Program
31:11 – Teri’s Advice For Those Afraid to Stop Smoking
35:38 – Tips for Skeptics: Why Quitting Smoking Can Be Easy
39:35 – Conclusion and Final Thoughts

About Ask an Ex

ASK AN EX is an interview series featuring inspiring ex-smokers who succeeded with the CBQ Method™

And they tell you everything – how they did it, what helped them, what challenged them, their fears, motivations and aspirations.

Because the best person to ask about quitting smoking, is an Ex who’s been exactly where you are right now. Every EX shares their unique perspective and wisdom on quitting smoking (because everyone has a unique mix of background, mindset, and experiences). 

And they do it for 1 reason: to help YOU become an EX too. 

Get started with the CBQ Method (Free): 
http://bit.ly/startcbq
Join the CBQ Method Facebook Support Community:
http://bit.ly/cbqmethodcommunity
SUBSCRIBE to this channel to get more videos like this to help you quit smoking:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRPLgL5_AAHwtnP9Qwu8tsw?sub_confirmation=1

Filed Under: Ask An Ex Tagged With: ask an ex, ask an ex episode, ask an ex interview, cbq program member, cbq program success story

How Anna Quit Smoking with The CBQ Program in 2020 & Is Loving Her Smoke-Free Life

by Nasia Davos

Welcome to episode #24 of Ask an Ex.

In this inspiring interview, our member, Anna Krzton from Denmark shares her remarkable journey of quitting smoking with the Cognitive Behavioral Quitting (CBQ) Program. After 10 years of smoking and trying various approaches, Anna became a happy non-smoker on the 19th of May, 2020. In this heartfelt conversation with Nasia Davos, Anna opens up about her personal experiences, the hurdles she overcame, and the empowering strategies that helped her along the way.

Chapters:

00:00 – Intro

00:51 – Meet Anna: Her Previous Quit Smoking Attempts

03:54 – Why Anna Chose the CBQ Program

07:09 – From Occasional Smoker to Smoking 10 Cigarettes a Day

10:03 – Why Anna Decided to Stop Smoking

12:04 – Anna’s Favorite Quit Smoking Benefits

14:02 – How Anna Handles Mental Cravings

19:10 – Coping with Stress

19:57 – Smoking Culture in Denmark

21:47 – What Anna Learned from Quitting Smoking

22:34 – Anna’s Advice for Those Struggling to Quit Smoking

Enjoy!

About Ask An Ex

ASK AN EX is an interview series featuring inspiring ex-smokers who succeeded with the CBQ Method™

And they tell you everything – how they did it, what helped them, what challenged them, their fears, motivations and aspirations.

Because the best person to ask about quitting smoking, is an Ex who’s been exactly where you are right now. Every EX shares their unique perspective and wisdom on quitting smoking (because everyone has a unique mix of background, mindset, and experiences). 

And they do it for 1 reason: to help YOU become an EX too. 

Get started with the CBQ Method (Free): 
http://bit.ly/startcbq
Join the CBQ Method Facebook Support Community:
http://bit.ly/cbqmethodcommunity
SUBSCRIBE to this channel to get more videos like this to help you quit smoking:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRPLgL5_AAHwtnP9Qwu8tsw?sub_confirmation=1

Filed Under: Ask An Ex

How to Stay Motivated to Quit Smoking: Tapping into Your Motivation and Refueling it for Success

by Nasia Davos

Quitting smoking easily may seem like an impossible feat, especially when you can’t stay motivated and committed to your goal. You may have quit in the past but found that your motivation waned over time. You’re not alone. Many of us tend to quit smoking in the heat of the moment when our motivation is high but then relapse a day or a week later when our cravings increase, and our motivation dips. As a result, we seek more motivation hoping it’s the key to quitting smoking successfully. We usually try to find this extra motivation boost on a special quit date, a finished pack, or even a health scare, but it rarely lasts.

In this article, you will learn how to stay motivated to quit smoking without guilting yourself into taking action. You will also discover why motivation is not enough to quit smoking easily and what you need instead.

Woman facing the sun with both arms raised, posing with power, determination, and motivation.

How Motivation Works

First, it’s important to understand that motivation is not something that you either have or don’t have. Motivation is a fickle force that has ups and downs. Think of the motivation to quit smoking as a dynamic force that needs frequent boosts. Like a car, you don’t put fuel in once and expect it to run forever – you have to refill the tank. Similarly, you have to refuel your motivation when it dips.

Tapping into Your Motivation

So, how can you motivate yourself to quit smoking? The answer is in the first quit-smoking stage of the Cognitive Behavioral Quitting (CBQ) method. During the first stage, called “choose to quit,” you make a firm decision to live free from addiction. Part of this decision stage is discovering and reflecting not only on your logical reasons to stop smoking but also your emotional reasons. Simply put, your logical reasons are why you should or must quit, while your emotional reasons are why you want to be free. Both logical reasons, such as the negative impact of smoking on health, and emotional reasons, such as feeling better about oneself, are important in feeling motivated to quit smoking.

Two yellow road signs, the one pointing left reads, "Emotion" and the one pointing right reads, "Logic".

Refueling Your Motivation

Motivation is like a flame, it flickers and dims, but with the right tools, it can be reignited.

The solution to staying motivated to quit smoking is to know how to refuel your motivation. When your motivation dips, all you have to do is remind yourself of why you wanted to stop smoking in the first place by revisiting your logical and emotional reasons.

Two fuel levels of a car, the left side has an empty fuel level while the right side has a full fuel level.

How to Find Your Emotional Reason to Stop Smoking

Step 1: Take 5 minutes alone in a quiet place and ask yourself: “Why do I want to be free from addiction?”, “How would my life change for the better if I didn’t have to smoke anymore?”

Step 2: Imagine how your life would change for the better if you were never to smoke another cigarette or vape. Consider how your health, mental health, inner peace, confidence, finances, and relationships would be impacted.

Step 3: Think about how not smoking would take you closer to your ideal image of yourself and your life.

Step 4: Look for one or for multiple emotional reasons for quitting smoking. Remember, there is no right or wrong answer.

Step 5: Write down your emotional reasons on flashcards and carry them with you.

Step 6: When you feel unmotivated, read through your flashcards and remind yourself of your emotional reasons for quitting smoking.

Step 7: Repeat this process until you find an emotional reason that truly moves you and gives you the motivation to quit smoking.

Beyond Motivation

Motivation may be essential to quitting smoking, but it is not enough to help you become a happy non-smoker. That’s where preparation comes to save the day. Preparation, the CBQ Method teaches, will take you further than motivation ever will.

Motivation and preparation are two different things that are both important in the process of quitting smoking. Motivation depends on our emotions. Even though it can be a powerful force in the beginning stages of quitting, it can be unpredictable and unreliable. Preparation, on the other hand, provides a solid foundation and the necessary tools and support to successfully quit smoking. By focusing on preparation, you can secure your success regardless of how much your motivation fluctuates.

While motivation is like a flame, preparation is like a seed; it may start small, but with proper care and attention, it can grow into a strong, resilient tree that can withstand any obstacle.

A middle-aged woman with her arms outstretched, her eyes closed, and a large smile on her face as she enjoys the nature.

Conclusion

Staying motivated to quit smoking is possible! To tap into your motivation, discover your logical and emotional reasons for quitting smoking by following the first stage of the CBQ Method. When you feel unmotivated, remember it’s normal, and all you have to do is refuel your motivation.

*This content is the intellectual property of the CBQ Method.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

How to Manage Your Emotions Without Smoking

by Nasia Davos

If you’re like me, and most other smokers, you’re probably worried that quitting smoking will make you anxious, irritable, depressed, or lower the quality of your life.

Perhaps you’ve been smoking for a long time and don’t know any other way to cope.  

So how can you manage your emotions without smoking?

Read on to learn:

  • A new way to think about emotions
  • 3 ways to better manage your emotions 
  • How quitting smoking affects your emotions
  • A simple way to avoid lashing out after quitting smoking
  • How long it takes for your brain to feel normal after you quit

Emotions and Quitting Smoking

Almost all smokers use smoking to cope with their emotions. But does smoking really help you manage and navigate your emotions?

Lighting up a cigarette when you’re angry or stressed only helps you ignore the root cause of that emotion and distract yourself for a moment.

So smoking is not a coping mechanism, it’s a distraction mechanism.

Think about it.

If smoking really relieved stress and depression then smokers would be the most relaxed and the happiest people ever. And of course, that’s not the case.

On the contrary, smoking is a source of mental distress all by itself: having cravings, not feeling in control of your life and your health, feeling self-conscious all the time, missing out on precious moments to smoke, feeling guilty, worrying about the cost.

And quitting smoking decreases anxiety and depression. There is a lot of research that shows quitting smoking decreases anxiety and depression even for people with psychiatric disorders. This is huge!

happy-smoke-free-people

Your mental health will improve dramatically after you quit smoking. Yes, there will be an adjustment period after you quit as it takes about 3 months for your brain to recover and start regulating dopamine naturally.

So give your brain time to heal.

In the meantime, there’s no reason you can’t enjoy your life and learn new ways to cope and manage your emotions without smoking

How to Manage Your Emotions without Smoking

Managing your emotions doesn’t mean always feeling good. That’s not real or realistic.

Instead, managing your emotions means navigating the different emotions you experience.

Let’s see 3 ways you can start doing that today.

1. Befriend your Emotions

We tend to think that negative emotions are bad experiences that happen to us, and we need to avoid, drown, or suppress them at any cost.

But what if you were to see your emotions as your ally? Something that happens for you, to serve you.

emotions-as-ally

Emotions are neither good nor bad.

Emotions are just signals.

They show you what to pay attention to. When you have a negative emotion it’s a signal that something needs to change.

For example, if you feel guilt, it means that you did or said something that’s not in alignment with your values.

If you’re overwhelmed this is a signal that you need to prioritize. Feeling anxiety is a signal you need to slow down.

priorities

If you feel down, this is a signal you need to make some changes in how you see a situation, how you act, or how you talk to yourself.

And of course fear, that’s so prominent in quitting smoking, is just a signal that you need to protect yourself and prepare for something.

For example, if you see a car coming your way you feel fear so you can be alert and prepare to run.

And when you feel fear of failure or fear of the unknown this is a signal you need to prepare for what you’re afraid of.

If you are afraid you won’t be able to cope with stress without smoking this is a signal that you need to learn more about how nicotine affects anxiety and prepare for stressful occasions.

All emotions are just signals, and negative emotions can be useful too.

2. Report Your Emotions, Don’t Act On Them

Many of us fear that quitting smoking will make us irritable, get us in trouble, and even ruin our relationships.

Of course, quitting smoking can’t change your personality or turn you into someone you’re not.

And what gets us in trouble with other people is not the experience of any emotion but our behavior. Being angry doesn’t get us in trouble, the way we express it does.

You may not be able to – and you don’t have to – change the emotion you’re experiencing. But you can change how you show it.

When you catch yourself feeling irritated, acknowledge it and don’t bottle it up.

Keeping anger and irritation inside may cause you to snap at your friends and your loved ones at a later time and then blame quitting smoking for it.

Remember, it’s okay to feel angry whether you’re a smoker or a non-smoker. When you do, take a few deep breaths and report your feelings, don’t act on them.

In other words, don’t show anger with your behavior. Instead, say: I feel that way… This irritates me….

Lashing Out

We usually lash out because we’re not responding to the event that happened, we’re responding to the meaning we give to that event.

We’re responding to the meaning we give to what happened. 

We had a member in our CBQ program who was struggling with how he showed his anger, and he was worried that after quitting smoking, his anger would get worse.

And after talking to him, he realized that the reason he got angry was because of how he interpreted things. He took things very personally.

And I think that’s true for most of us when we feel angry. We take things personally.

manage emotions without smoking

“He did that… this means I am not valued,” “She did that, it means she didn’t listen to me,” or “She doesn’t care about me and what I want.”

We make it about us and this makes us feel angry.

And even if at times we’re right to take things personally, lashing out never helps.

When you notice you’re feeling irritated, ask yourself:

“Is this about me?”

“What else could this mean?”

…and report your emotions. don’t act on them.

Say, “I feel that way.. this makes me think that …you don’t value me/ you don’t care about me.” This will help you express how you feel and also allow the other person to explain. It’s a win-win!

3. Start Developing Healthy Coping Skills

As we mentioned a few moments ago, smoking is not a coping mechanism it’s a distraction mechanism.

However, if it is the only coping tool you ever used or knew, it’s natural that you’re going to experience a void when it’s gone. So you need to fill that void with healthy coping strategies.

Some examples of healthy coping strategies are a daily 10- minute self-care routine, journaling, or meditation. You need to experiment with different things and see what works best for you.

And if you’re struggling to implement or learn healthy coping skills, asking for help, even professional help, is going to benefit you a lot.

The Best Coping Strategy

My favorite coping strategy is something that helps you take a step back and relax. You can do it anywhere and it’s very simple because it has to do with your breathing.

Our emotions affect our breathing.

For example, how do you breathe when you’re stressed, angry or tense?

Your breathing is shallow, fast, and interrupted.

And how do you breathe when you feel relaxed, relieved, or calm?

Your breathing is deep and slow.

Our emotional state affects our breathing. Same way, we can affect our emotions by changing our breathing.

When you’re stressed your breathing is tense. So as you inhale the first few puffs of a cigarette, your breathing has to change and become deep and slow. Otherwise, you can’t smoke!

So what really happens when you smoke, is that you inhale deeply and slowly. So you feel relaxed thinking the cigarette helped.

But in reality it was the deep and slow breathing that relaxed you. Not the cigarette.

And you can relax without smoking, just by breathing deeply as if you were smoking a cigarette.

Our emotions are a huge smoking trigger and learning how to weaken your triggers and your response to them is part of the third stage of the CBQ Method.

The CBQ Method has 4 stages in total and these 4 stages help you overcome the mental addiction and change how you think and feel about smoking so you can quit easily.

So if you want to start with the CBQ method, make sure you get the foundational video of the CBQ.

In that free video, I show you the 4 stages of the CBQ method, how they work together, and tips to get started with every stage. You’ll get an overview of your quit smoking journey and a PDF starter guide for the CBQ method with tips and notes you can use along your journey.

Get the foundational video of the CBQ Method here. 

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Why You Don’t Need Willpower to Quit Smoking

by Nasia Davos

Can you really quit smoking without willpower?

Every time I tell our members or seminar attendees “you don’t need any willpower to quit smoking and the CBQ method requires no willpower”, you’re asking me “How is it possible?” “How can I ever stop smoking without willpower?”

If you think it’s impossible to quit without willpower, then read on.

Because the truth is that you don’t need and, in fact, you shouldn’t use willpower if you want to find quitting easy.

What Is Willpower

Willpower is two things.

1) Willpower is a State of Resistance

Willpower by definition is…

Willpower is the control exerted to do something or resist an impulse

Quitting smoking with willpower means that there is the urge to smoke and you go against this urge, you go against the desire to smoke.

Quitting smoking with willpower DOES NOT mean being decisive, strong, determined, and making decisions like throwing your pack of cigarettes away. This decision-making process is an essential part of any change and it doesn’t mean you’re quitting smoking with willpower.

The problem with quitting with willpower is that you’re going against your desire. You think of smoking as something that’s going to benefit you somehow but you don’t allow yourself to have it.

And of course, this takes a lot of effort, it creates tension, it’s hard, and it makes you feel deprived. So you end up smoking more.

stressed woman after quitting smoking

For example, if you experience a lot of stress and at that moment you try to resist a cigarette with willpower… what’s going to happen?

Well, it’s going to be very hard, you’re going to feel more stress and want to smoke even more. And even if you successfully resist the cigarette at that moment… you may end up smoking two or three consecutive cigarettes later because you felt deprived before. This is the hard way to go about your quit!

And I want you to know that even if you had superhuman amounts of willpower from birth or even if you practiced increasing your willpower you would still feel deprived because willpower by definition means going against your desire, and that’s hard.

2) Willpower Is Limited

Willpower is not a manifestation or a sign of your inner strength.

We tend to think that if someone is a strong person that means that they have more willpower but that’s not always the case, that’s not what willpower is.

Willpower is like a muscle that gets tired during the day. The more you use it the weaker it becomes.

For example, if you have a chocolate cake in front of you and you see it in the morning when you’re rested it’s going to be easy to say “no”.

But is it going to be as easy after a hard day at work when you’re tired and hungry? Of course not.

And it’s not because you changed as a person; you didn’t grow weaker as the day went by. You just got tired, your circumstances changed and your willpower got fatigued.

And it’s the same thing with resisting cigarettes. You can’t always go against your desire with willpower because willpower is not dependable; it’s limited.

Willpower doesn’t work because willpower doesn’t last.

Everyone can resist a few cigarettes with willpower but for how long?

At some point you’re going to find yourself in a stressful situation and, you know, when we feel stressed our willpower gets depleted. And when your willpower gets depleted you’re going to fall back to old patterns and risk relapsing.

Also, willpower doesn’t work because you cannot use something you have a limited supply of like your willpower to resist something you have an unlimited supply of like your emotions and your impulses and your urges. It’s hard, it’s not a fair fight.

And that’s why willpower can only cause temporary change. I’m going to tell you how to create lasting change in a bit.

When You Need Willpower

Willpower is not all bad it’s actually amazing and helps us do the right thing.

When it comes to making a change willpower can help you start something it can help you take the very first step. In our case, it can help you start researching, watching a video, or start a program. However, willpower is harmful when you use it as the means to achieve a goal exactly because it’s a state of resistance and it’s limited.

For example, if you are on a diet it may need some willpower to throw all the junk food from the house or to go on the scale and see where you’re starting from. But you shouldn’t use willpower to stay on a diet because you will feel deprived and crave all the things you’re not supposed to be eating.

If you want to go to the gym you may need willpower to get up from the couch or get dressed but you shouldn’t use willpower to stay and workout because you won’t perform well, you’re going to waste your time and have a bad experience.

When it comes to quitting smoking, you may need willpower to start researching, watch a video or make small decisions but you shouldn’t use your willpower to resist cigarettes forever in the hope that the desire for smoking will magically disappear by itself. Because if you do, you’re going to feel deprived and end up smoking more.

So do you see now why you can’t go through life always resisting cigarettes with willpower?

This is not a way to live, you’re not going to be happy.

So what are you supposed to do?

How to Quit Smoking Without Willpower

Like we said a few moments ago, willpower means going against your desire and impulse to smoke and that’s the hard way.

But what if you change the impulse, what if you remove the desire to begin with?

Then quitting becomes easy!

What you need to quit smoking is mindpower, which is greater than willpower.

You can learn what’s the difference between willpower and mindpower in this video:

Learning how to use your mindpower will also help you overcome the mental addiction to smoking. The mental addiction is the desire or need for cigarettes. It’s how smoking makes you feel and how much you believe you need it.

At the moment, you believe that smoking offers you something. Maybe you believe that it helps you cope with stress and boredom, socialize, concentrate, take a break or control your weight. And even though smoking offers you nothing at all… as long as you believe it does, you will desire it.

And the thing is that willpower does not remove the benefits you think you get from smoking and it doesn’t magically remove your desire to smoke. Because it’s hard to control our desires with willpower, our emotions don’t work that way.

And that’s why the solution is to change the emotions and stop desiring cigarettes. And you do that when you realize that smoking offers you nothing.

Think about it. Do you need any willpower to resist eating rat poison or ammonia or acetone?

Of course not! Because it’s disgusting and harmful.

Well, tobacco has inside arsenic that’s used in rat poison and ammonia and acetone and 4,000 chemicals, and the only reason why you want it is because you believe it offers you something. That’s the mental addiction in action.

My point is when you see smoking for what it really is you don’t desire it anymore and when there is no desire there is no need for willpower and quitting becomes easy.

How do you remove the desire for smoking?

When I was trying to quit smoking I struggled a lot with this and that’s why I started developing the CBQ method, and the 4 stages of the CBQ method help you remove this desire.

Learn exactly how the CBQ method removes the desire for cigarettes and why the CBQ method requires no willpower.

Is It Hard to Overcome the Desire for Cigarettes?

It’s easy to overcome this desire because it’s not a real desire.

It all started because nicotine hijacked your brain and made it believe that you need it to survive just like you need food and air and water.

When you’re hungry your brain is going to insist that you eat. The brain will communicate to you via your thoughts and tell you that you’re hungry. And it will insist because it needs you to survive.

In the same way, the brain insists for you to smoke because it thinks that you need nicotine to survive. So if you feel compelled to smoke even though you know better it’s not because you really enjoy smoking or because you’re self-destructive. It’s because your brain has outdated information. And when you use your willpower to resist a cigarette it’s like telling your mind that indeed “I want that I need that but I can’t have it” so your brain goes bananas.

But when you treat these craving thoughts as a memory, as an addiction, as a thought …they go.

How to Rewire Your Brain

When you put yourself in situations where you used to smoke and you don’t… and you are relaxed in these situations… you’re actually allowing your brain to get new information. This rewires your brain.

Because you show yourself that nothing happened because you didn’t smoke. You show your brain that you don’t need nicotine to survive so your brain adjusts and the craving thoughts eventually disappear.

How to Quit Smoking Permanently

So the solution is to remove the desire, the impulse, and change how you see smoking and your associations with it – that’s how you create lasting change.

Let’s think about the examples we talked about before.

When you go on a diet you may need willpower to start… but to create lasting change you must associate eating healthy and looking after your body with happiness, health, and joy. You must create those associations and when you do that, bad foods start becoming undesirable.

If you want to go to the gym and work out you may need willpower to start…but to create lasting change, to create a habit, you need to associate working out with health, happiness, confidence, and feeling good. With time, you won’t even need willpower to start because you’re going to be chasing this good feeling.

And of course to stop smoking you may need willpower to get started, educate yourself, research, or watch some videos… but to create lasting change and quit permanently you need to associate being smoke-free with feeling confident, healthy, wealthy, accomplished, and free.

Because if you desire the result, you won’t need any willpower to get motivated. And when you get some distance from your smoking habit you’ll be able to see that it did nothing for you. It was an abusive relationship based on lies and fear and you’re glad you’re out.

Conclusion

Willpower is a state of resistance and it’s limited. It’s good for starting things but bad for creating lasting change because you feel deprived, it makes the process difficult, and you may end up relapsing.

Willpower means going against the desire to smoke and this is hard. But when you overcome the desire to smoke, quitting becomes easy. And when there is no desire there is also no need for willpower.

To remove the desire for smoking you must change how you see smoking and quitting and that’s how you create lasting change and quit permanently.

So I hope this helped you rethink the role of willpower in your quit and that it gave you a new perspective.

If you want to overcome the mental addiction and change how you see smoking make sure you get the foundational video of the CBQ Method.

The CBQ Method is a 4-stage method that’s specifically designed to help you overcome the mental addiction, change how you think about smoking and break the habit. The mental addiction is the biggest part of the smoking addiction so overcoming it makes quitting easy.

Click here to get the Foundational Video if the CBQ Method

And if you want help and support, you can join our CBQ method Facebook support group. We have thousands of amazing members who are on the same journey as you. And we post tips every day to help you quit smoking and remain smoke-free.

Join the support group here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/cbqmethod/

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