Setting Up A Memorable Date

This is the first and the most important step. A lot of people take this step lightly or they don’t even do it. Although this step might sound a bit silly, but this will greatly help you in terms of motivation. How? By setting a quitting date (after this date, you shouldn't smoke again), you can set up a goal for yourself. This may sound dubious but trust me this is important. Make sure the date you choose is unique and not easily forgettable. Your birthday might work. My date was 4th of April 2004 (04/04/04). This step can make you remember the exact date that you stopped and you can keep track of your "achievement" period. You can proudly say "I have stopped smoking for nearly 4 years!” The longer the period, the more determined and strong you'll be in achieving your goal.

Does this work you ask? Of course it will. Here’s an example. Let’s say you don’t set a unique date. You will not know when you started to take the initial initiative in quitting. So even if you have quit smoking for nearly 7 days (it’s an achievement for a heavy smoker!) the urge will still be there and nothing is motivating you from going on. You will think to yourself, “It’s not that long that I’ve quit, just a few days only. I’ll start everything all over again next week”. You are actually trying to console yourself although you know that you shouldn’t smoke. You feel guilty without realizing.

But if you have a unique date which you will not forget for the rest of your life, you will know that you have stopped for seven days. And that count itself will motivate you indirectly. Trust me, it seriously works…

But be cautious in selecting the date. It shouldn’t be long and it shouldn’t be to soon. Longer time for the date to arrive and you’ll smoke more. Because you know you can’t smoke properly after that date. If the date is too soon, you will have no time to prepare mentally and also physically. And please don’t make the date related to your spouse or partner. If you have problems in that relationship, it will indirectly make you smoke again. Choose something that relates to you and only you… Good luck.

Why I'm Using A Blog?

A lot of people will be wondering... Why exactly am I using a blog instead of using other types of web application like forums or something? This is because a blog is much easier to update in terms of posts. Users can mail me their story or how they quit smoking and I can help them to post it up here. Besides, users can comment on the posts and leave their links right here in this blog. I believe blogs are much easier to be used as and interaction tool. Users don’t have to register and just follow up my blog on how to quit smoking. I just want to help people out there. Nothing more…

How I Started Smoking...

Hi everyone! This is my first post on how to quit smoking, the easy and effective way. There aren't many visitors at the moment but I'm sure within a few weeks or so, the visitors will come crawling in. Alright, let me introduce myself. My name is Deco (nickname). I'm 24 years old male. I'm an undergrad engineering student. My smoking venture began in 1998.

At that time, I was 15 years old and smoked like 2-3 sticks per day. Reason? The so-called “image” and friends of course. My friends were smoking at that time. Not heavy smokers but they actually inhale the smoke inside their lungs. When I first started, I didn’t know how to smoke properly. I wouldn’t inhale the smoke inside my lungs. I will keep it in my mouth and then release it back again. There’s no point to smoke like the way I did, according to them. They guided me on how to inhale the smoke inside. The first time I inhaled the smoke inside, I coughed badly. The cough was so intense that tears were coming out from my eyes. Then I felt dizzy for a few hours. Couldn’t even walk properly but luckily I was in my house at that moment. I lay straight down on the floor where I was standing and closed my eyes to get rid of the headache/dizziness.

But after all that, the next day I smoked again. Why? The “image” that I was craving for was to be cool, macho and mature. Smoking in front of girls, in front of a crowd... I was willing to do anything for that “image” at that age. Then after a week or so going through the agonizing experience of smoking, the smoke started to “feel nice”. No more headaches or dizziness. With that gone, the “image” was the only thing left and it drove me to smoke more. Day by day, the sticks were increasing. From 2-3, it went up to 5-6 and when I was at my peak before quitting, it was nearly 20-50 per day. At that point, the “image” was no more. It was shear addiction.

Although there are many reasons, from my opinion, the “image” is the main reason people start smoking especially teenagers. When they face the agonizing experience during the first inhalation of the smoke into the lungs, they “motivate” themselves and willing to go through anything just to get the “image”. I can still remember an incident happened when I was in my 2nd year in university (I was 20 years old). We had an annual dinner for our university students in a hotel. We went to the dinner by bike and when we arrived, there were lots of girls outside the hotel getting ready to go inside. The moment we saw them, I realized something weird. There were nearly 20 of us and each and every single one took out a cigarette and lit it up. It’s all about the stupid “image” Funny isn’t it? Do you have any funny incidents related to smoking?