Yes, You Can Quit Smoking: 10 Essential Tips

By: Megan C.

If you want to quit smoking but have failed at doing so several times, now is the time to quit with success.

The following is a list of 10 essential tips for people who want to quit smoking.

1. Be Fully Committed

First, make sure that you really want to quit smoking. Then tell everyone you know you're going to quit. Write it down. Blog about it. Promise your kids you're going to quit. And your parents. Just make it impossible for yourself to go back. Believe in yourself and keep a positive attitude.

2. Make a Plan

When you're going to quit smoking, you will have to write out a plan and place it somewhere where you'll see it every day. Things to include in your plan: a reward system (if you haven't smoked for 7 days, you can buy yourself a gift, if you haven't smoked for 30 days, you can go on a weekend trip, etc.) and someone you can call when you're tempted to smoke. Write down ways that'll help you quit smoking: taking a different route to your work, eating breakfast somewhere else, getting up from the table right away after eating, avoiding places you connect with smoking, exercising, getting more sleep, avoiding alcohol, and so on.

3. Know Your Motivation

Remind yourself every day why you are quitting so when the urge to smoke comes, you'll know why you want to resist it.

4. Don't Give In

After some time your addicted brain will tell you that you have to smoke: just smoking one cigarette wouldn't hurt anyone, right? Don't listen to such thoughts. If you smoke even one single puff, you'll long for more and pick up smoking again.

5. Join a Forum

You're not the only person who is quitting smoking, and the support of fellow quitters can help a lot. For instance, join http://quitsmoking.about.com or http://www.thequitsmokingforum.com. First rule: Post Before You Smoke. If you set this rule and stick to it, you will make it through your urge. Others will talk you through it. And they'll celebrate with you when you make it through your first day, day 2, 3, and 4, week 1 and beyond.