• Set a quit date.

Before Your Quit Date

  • Write down your reasons for quitting on a card; frame these positively, focusing on the future you are seeding (e.g. I will smell fresh and clean; I will breath deeply and clearly). Refer to that card when you have the urge to smoke.
  • Tell those around you your quit date and why you are quitting. Ask friends to support you in this process and not to smoke around you.
  • Begin reducing the number of cigarettes you smoke each day.
  • Each time as you smoke, say to yourself: “I don’t need this cigarette.”
  • Start recognizing the places or situations in which you smoke.
  • Rehearse alternative plans (a walk, a shower, a phone call) for times when you feel the urge to smoke.
  • Plan for and begin an exercise program.
  • Visualize yourself moving through familiar situations cigarette-free, breathing deeply, and appreciating how good you soon will feel.
  • Keep a diary of each cigarette you smoke, the date, time and situation, and why you smoked it.
  • Lock your cigarettes in a drawer or move them to an inconvenient place.
  • If you use a lighter, switch to using matches, then keep matches and cigarettes in different rooms. Smoke with your non-dominant hand.
  • Write down, add up, and contemplate how much money and time you spend on smoking daily, weekly, monthly, yearly.
  • Each morning take one cigarette, thank it for having been your friend but let it know that your needs have changed, that its function in your life has become obsolete, and that you are now parting ways, then destroy it with fervor.

After Your Quit Date

  • Avoid activities and situations that might lead you to smoke. Lessen your intake of coffee and alcohol.
  • Keep nutritious nibbles like fruit or carrot and celery sticks handy to munch when you get the urge to smoke.
  • Set aside a certain time each day for pleasurable exercise such as a brisk walk through a park.
  • Get your teeth cleaned and resolve to keep them white.
  • Put money you would have spent on cigarettes into a special bank account. Then treat yourself with the proceeds.
  • Remind yourself how much better you are without cigarettes and honor yourself for restoring your power to shape your life.
  • Write down your reasons for having quit on a new card; frame these positively, focusing on the present you are creating, (e.g., I smell fresh and clean; I breath deeply and clearly). Refer to that card when you have the urge to smoke.
  • Visualize yourself moving through familiar situations cigarette-free, breathing deeply, and appreciating how good your new life feels.
  • If you find yourself starting to light a cigarette, reaffirm to yourself: “I don’t need this cigarette.”
  • Keep at it. Quitting is the best thing you are doing to improve your life.