How to Quit Smoking...? Proper Motivation!

[Jelly]

I've given up smoking loads of times, it's easy!

As you said it's the staying off the cigarettes that's the hardest bit. I've now given up giving up.

Best of luck to you Vodapas. Go for it.

 

[kpinvt]

I smoked for 23 years and by the time I stopped I was smoking 2+ packs a day and tearing the filters off of half of them. I had had opportunities before to quit, like all of the times I was backpacking and out of reach of a store or vending machine. I never, ever bought cigarettes by the carton, always one pack at a time. As soon as I got back to civilization though the first thing I did was to buy another pack and light up. I tried other times to quit cold turkey but would only last a day or so. My wife is an RN and was hired to work at the Vermont State Hospital 23 years ago. Six months after she started that job the hospital set up a smoking cessation program where their doctors would write a prescription for a nicotine patch for anyone who worked there and their family members over the phone. I got a scrip for a 21mg patch. It took me three days of hell to get over the hump. I started chewing gum to compensate and worked myself up to 4 and 5 of the 17 stick multi-packs a day. The back seat of my car was filled with gum wrappers. I think I had a harder time quitting the gum chewing than I did smoking. They don't make a patch for gum. I haven't smoked since. The first couple of years I enjoyed the smell of second hand smoke but now I can't stand it and can smell it a mile away.

 

[670cc]

Thinking about this some more, I still think rationalizing quitting based on some small money benefit, or based on some kind of relatively short term treat like a fourth motorcycle is utterly foolish. You need to look at a much larger picture. This is about life and death. Do you want to stay healthy in later years, ride motorcycles and do so many other fun things later in life? You need to look at yourself and say, hey, "I'm better than this.". You look around and see how other people go about daily life without smoking. Yes, it's true, man. People function very well without cigarettes! You need to believe that you can whip this habit and that the reward will be living a longer healthier life. Until you actually BELIEVE that, your attempts to quit will be futile, no matter what little treat or monetary advantage you can conjure up. It's about will power. Until you're committed, there will always be some excuse or temptation that will lead to failure.

Again, in my opinion, aiding in quitting smoking by buying a toy is foolish.

 

[wickerman]

Of course using a reward like a new bike or whatever is not the reason to quite smoking. I think it would be like someone who goes on a diet to loose 50 lbs. They diet to get healthy, but always have the goal of buying new wardrobe to help motivate them, especially through the tough times.

 

[vodapas]

Thinking about this some more, I still think rationalizing quitting based on some small money benefit, or based on some kind of relatively short term treat like a fourth motorcycle is utterly foolish. You need to look at a much larger picture. This is about life and death. Do you want to stay healthy in later years, ride motorcycles and do so many other fun things later in life? You need to look at yourself and say, hey, "I'm better than this.". You look around and see how other people go about daily life without smoking. Yes, it's true, man. People function very well without cigarettes! You need to believe that you can whip this habit and that the reward will be living a longer healthier life. Until you actually BELIEVE that, your attempts to quit will be futile, no matter what little treat or monetary advantage you can conjure up. It's about will power. Until you're committed, there will always be some excuse or temptation that will lead to failure.

Again, in my opinion, justifying quitting smoking by buying a toy is foolish.

Yes, which you have now stated twice. Your opinion on this matter (and apparently my fiscal responsibility) is dually noted. And of course you are fully entitled to your opinion and I do appreciate the criticism of my thinking. If I didn't want to hear those opinions I wouldn't have shared my plan with you all.

That said, I think you kind of missed a big point of my original post. I've been wanting/planning to quit smoking again for a while now. This isn't me saying man if I could just find another $180 a month I can get that fourth bike I don't need. This is a matter of two desires I have coinciding in, my opinion here, a complimentary way. I want to quit smoking for all of the reasons any smoker should. Yes, those should be motivation enough and hopefully would of been. But, I don't see where the harm is in creating a reward system for myself. On a bad day when I want to smoke I can pull up a vid of an FZ-07 exhaling through an Akro and say, y'know what it's worth it. Yes, in your mind that is a silly reason, actually I believe you said "utterly foolish". Good health and not dying a horrible, premature death SHOULD be reason enough. But, the issue there is those are those big picture intangibles that can be tough to grasp on those bad days. As has been mentioned a lot of times it's the brush with death that gets people to stop. Because in that case it's no longer intangible, it's right in there face. I am blessed or maybe cursed with a strong heart and big lungs. I always have been. I'm a good runner and every year I get my check up the doc comments on how slow my resting heart rate is. My point is I haven't had the tangible shoved in my face. I still workout 5 days a week and on my physical readiness tests I still smoke (no pun intended) younger guys who don't smoke on the run portion. I'm not bragging. I'm trying to point out that it is hard for a middle aged, pack-a-day smoker who is in good shape to see the obvious future. Call me foolish all you want, but if you were a smoker as I believe you said you were, you know at one point in your life you didn't wake up every day and say I'm a fool these things are going to kill me. So, as I have said I'm trying to utilize my love (maybe addiction) of motorcycles in a positive way to make a positive change in my life which I was planning to do anyhow. Buying an FZ-07 was going to happen at some point anyhow. It was already in the cards. (Honestly, I could afford to buy the bike anyhow. It's justifying it that was the issue.) However, by not blowing disposable income on cigarettes it allows me the luxury of buying the FZ-07 and in turn the FZ-07 becomes that tangible motivator to help get me past the rough days. In my mind, a win/win. In yours, "utterly foolish". And that is fine. You seem a long term, big picture guy and that's cool. But, that's not me. Maybe it's my chosen career. Deploy to enough combat zones and you become an enjoy today for today kind of guy. I'm not romanticizing it, that is really the perspective that helps you come to terms with living life and death situations on a daily basis.

Ok, enough of my rambling. You've said your piece, I've said mine and I truly do appreciate and respect your opinions.

 

[670cc]

All's cool, man. Like you said, you asked for opinions. Sometimes the slap-in-the-face ones are needed, too. Everyone looks at life from their own stack of sh**. Weigh all the feedback and pick the ones that will help achieve your goals. And, good luck.

 

[vodapas]

All's cool, man. Like you said, you asked for opinions. Sometimes the slap-in-the-face ones are needed, too. Everyone looks at life from their own stack of sh**. Weigh all the feedback and pick the ones that will help achieve your goals. And, good luck.

Indeed it is, very good. All opinions are welcome. Overcoming my self indulgence may take quite an opinion though. Thank you!