A lot of people come to me feeling frustrated and beating themselves up because they can’t
quit smoking by themselves. They try willpower, patches, acupuncture, hypnosis
etc but still continue to smoke.
This is often because health is not at the top of their value system and they really do
not want to give up. Let’s look at the value system first:
Everybody has their own unique set of values and we all live our lives trying to fulfil
our values. If something is high in our value system we will do things to try
and fulfil it easily and will be focused. If that something is low on our value
system we will procrastinate and lose focus easily. The act of quitting smoking
is part of a value of health and if health is not high in the value system then
the person will find it hard to quit smoking. Circumstances can cause health to
rise in the value system and when this happens quitting smoking is easy. Most
people who quit smoking by willpower will have health high on their value
system.
Then there is the mind set of wanting to quit smoking versus need to quit smoking. Often
it is a bit of both but there must be an overwhelming want to quit. If you do
not want to quit then you won’t, no matter what you try. Be truthful to
yourself and make sure that you want to quit smoking before you attempt to
quit. Do this and you will be successful in quitting.