Free Stop Smoking Ways – Willpower is Key

Many people believe that you need to spend a lot of money.  That is not true.  There are many free ways to stop smoking.  The key to any free stop smoking approach is willpower.

"Just stop", we're told. Stop smoking, that is, by just deciding to stop. If only it were that easy! You need to realize that both physiological changes and psychological issues are factors in any stop-smoking program. It is only the rarest of people that can just quit “cold turkey” and never smoke cigarettes again.

Still, any successful approach will begin with a commitment. Only about 5% of people on average will be successful on their first attempt to quit smoking.   The key to success in the long run is to muster up the will power to make a permanent decision.

To increase your chance of success it is important to understand what willpower is and how it is the foundation for a free stop smoking program.

Life is made up of a series of small choices and decisions.  The biggest decisions in our lives are not usually a simple decision and course of action.  The important decisions require much more effort and thought than a simple snapping of our mental fingers.  Both thought and effort are the critical link between willpower and success of your goals.

A major factor that contributes to the need to smoke is stress.  Stress not only starts you smoking, but it keeps you smoking year after year.  Stress is often caused by a damaging event over which we feel we have little control.  Many times, people will look towards a cigarette to restore calm.

You don’t need to just accept the stress in your life – you can learn to control it in healthy ways.

Starting small is a good approach. Figure out which habits cause you to reach for a cigarette. For example, perhaps you automatically go for a cigarette first thing in the morning.  A good approach would be to move your cigarettes so that they are not in easy reach in the morning.  This will require your willpower to help you resist getting them. Another approach is to delay your after dinner cigarette.  Start by delaying by a few minutes and then gradually extending the delay.  Small victories will help your will power and reduce the number of cigarettes per day that you smoke.

Your self-confidence will continually grow as you steadily achieve better control over your smoking impulses.  You will feel in control of the situation.  The feeling of control will boost your feeling that your willpower can be successful.  You will feel in control over events rather than having the feeling that they are directing and controlling you.

After you have been successful with some small steps – it’s time to graduate to a long term plan.  The first step is to choose a day when you will absolutely stop smoking.  Figure out hown many cigarettes you have left so that you are sure to run out by your stop smoking day.  Similar to how you often stop the urge to buy something more expensive than what you can afford, remind you of the real cost of smoking – in both dollars and health consequences.

The hardest part will be in the first several weeks.  This period will put a large strain on your willpower.  In this period, your cravings will be the most intense.  Your body will be undergoing chemical changes.  You will have lower levels of dopamine as the harmful smoking-related compounds are flushed out of your body.  There will also be other physical changes that will continue to give you the urge to start smoking again.

Another good, free approach to stop smoking is to imagine the long term picture.  Viewing photos of cancer-ridden lungs or unhealthy smokers can help.  Also continue to remind yourself of when you were out of breath because of smoking.

After that, the really hard part starts: adhering to the plan for a lifetime. Willpower isn't just about choosing an action at the moment, but directing your life toward a better horizon.  The best part of willpower is that it is free – it just requires thought and effort.