ok, so i was a tobacco addict for 17 years. Not proud of it, just was. Had a hard life as a teenager, and we have the schizophrenia gene in my family. The schizophrenia gene is important as all so afflicted naturally seek to self medicate with tobacco and other substances. Know one and you will recognize the truth in that statement.
So i smoked tobacco, and by that i mean i learned to smoke youngish, and smoked heavy nicotine varieties such as the French and African tobaccos. i was very much addicted.
i moved on, leaving the tobacco addiction behind, allowing by body to breath freely, and to rebuild all its cells without the nicotine and all the other poisons put there by the smoke.
i had unsuccessfully tried all the ways one can consider to 'quit' tobacco, and it was not until stopping the trying to quit process that i was able to achieve the goal.
So, here is the thing, what i did was to study, intensely study my addiction to tobacco, and in that effort, developed a sure fire way to leave it behind.
First note that you must never again try to 'quit'. As part of this mind trick process, no matter how long it takes, always endeavor to use positive language mentally when facing and progressing beyond your addiction to nicotine and all the other chemicals the corporations put into the mix.
Second, be adult about this process and treat it seriously with unfailing devotion.
Third, do the work, and the work will not let you down as it is a subtle, and hugely effective way to train the mind and that is what got you where you are...you allowed your mind to be trained into addiction...so let's train it to not be so any longer.
The process is indefinite. It has no time limit. Usually seems to take between 3 and 6 months more or less.
The only tool you will need will be your phone and a note taking app. Now i used 3x5 cards, a bit of a pencil, and a rubber band to hold it all together as i did this 30+ years ago and apps did not exist, and phones were things attached to the wall by way of a cord.
So, any note taking app will work, but will work a whole lot better if you can fill it in by way of cursive writing. It has to do with the brain-eye-hand-mind loop. Nonetheless, even writing it out with a keyboard will do.
The process is that every time you feel the urge to smoke, go ahead, but first, open the app, and fill in the following information:
- date
- time to the minute...very very important...down to seconds if you can do it consistently...
- number of that cigarette for that 24 hour day
- how you feel physically in no less than 10 words
- how you feel mentally in no less than 10 words in a complete sentence
- how you feel emotionally in no less than 4 descriptive words (more is better)
- what was the trigger for the urge? In as many words as it takes to describe what it was in your mind/body/environment that triggered the urge to smoke this cigarette this time this day
That is all there is to it. You should read it again at the end of the week, but that is not really necessary, it is the writing of it all down that does the trick. Do this with consistency for every single instance of your addiction surfacing and it will change as a natural part of training your mind until it falls away from you as gently as a dandelion floating off the stem.
The why of it is a bit more complicated than may first appear, but you will accomplish 4 major things each time you do this action completely that will retrain your mind and your body and you will leave the addiction behind. What you are accomplishing is to bring the addiction out from the cells and put it into your consciousness. Once there, you control it...
so, get to it, no excuse not to, after all you are not quitting any longer, so no more suffering that way, and now...the really cool part is that using this process...time is on your side.
You will achieve your goal.