Getting rid of any negative habit is so complicated because our habits benefit us in some way or another. It may sound controversial, but it is true. Just think about it: people don’t smoke because they are happy and enjoying their life or day.
Smoking gives one a feeling of comfort, safety, and repetitive actions to do to keep the brain quiet. You may force yourself to write a smoking argumentative essay or just go the whole way down there the rabbit hole of diving into work instead of smoking. But if these methods do not work, how does one overcome such a harmful pattern? You will find the most effective answers in this article.
An ultimate guide to finding your triggers
The first thing you need to know is that smoking is not a reason in itself; it is not what needs the cure. Having a bit of tasty flavor or a strongly revitalizing dose of nicotine is only a consequence of pushing down your negative emotions about something. So here we go finding out what that trigger is for you:
- First, stop for a minute. As you smoke, you tend to breathe out after the very first inhale, right? Ground yourself in this moment of quietness and allow yourself a few minutes to look inside yourself instead of the troubles of the outside world.
- Second, catch the tails of your thoughts. As you are breathing in and out, what is it that leaves your lungs alongside the smoke? You are surely smoking to let go of anxiety, fears, or negative thoughts. Try to define what these thoughts are about.
- Finally, dive a level deeper and collect your emotions. That is one more important level of your triggers. Smoking gives pleasant emotions that are unreachable any other way. What is it that you are craving? Is it the feeling of safety, control, and relaxation that you need?
Finding the answers to these questions is half the way to beating your negative patterns.
Replacing your rriggers: How to do that correctly
Once you know the underlying principles of your smoking habit, you are ready to replace it smoothly. The key word in this phrase is “smoothly.” Habits or other behavioral patterns cannot be changed overnight simply because we decide so. Instead, there are a few rules that guide people’s change processes. Let’s break them in.
Rule #1: Leave no void spaces
To change a bad habit, you must find a good one to replace it with. Trying to break a habit in one instance is ineffective as it leaves space for obsessive thoughts and triggers to affect you. You can last on a mere willpower only so much. To adhere to the changes, find a satisfying replacement for smoking, like singing, whistling, eating candies, or chewing gum.
Rule #2: Make the bad habit difficult and invisible
The human mind is a mechanism that is constantly seeking to analyze the environment. Hence, once you have your cigarettes in hand reach, it is natural for you to spend hours contemplating the “to smoke” or “not to smoke question.” At the same time, reducing cigarettes from your sight will reduce the part of civil war inside your head. Sure, you will still be craving smoking from time to time. However, you will have no reason to remember about it out of the craving periods.
Rule #3: Strive for accountability
We are not talking about counting every cigarette you smoke. As said before, the main reason for smoking lies inside the triggers provoking such behavior. Hence, you must repeat the awareness exercise as often as possible, either in written or spoken form.
Here is an example of how you can keep a smoking-mindfulness journal:
- Cue (trigger for smoking): Feeling stressed at work.
- Craving: I wanted to relax.
- My immediate reaction: I want to go smoking immediately. I am irritated and need some break; this workplace is a complete circus.
- Is there anything that may help to stop the immediate response? I don’t know. I want to smoke. I can get a cup of coffee instead, I guess
- How will you reward yourself for stopping the immediate response? What sounds like a good enough reward today? I will skip doing dishes and buy myself a bottle of good quality beer for the weekends.
Strengthening your positions in battle: Two final tips
Awareness and trigger-defining practices are some of the best instruments to overcome your enemy habit. Here are some extra tips you need to consider:
- Physical Vs. Psychological habit. Negative behaviors have a few stages of impact on our bodies and minds. As long as your addiction is psychological, you can treat it with psychological means. As soon as the habit becomes a physical addiction of your body to nicotine, you may need more specific professional help.
- Choosing what you need over what you want. Here’s a controversial yet accurate point: smoking when you crave safety and calmness is not self-care, even if it seems to be. Genuine self-care is thinking about your body and brain’s deep, unsatisfied needs and seeking healthy ways of providing them.
Hopefully, these tips will help you quit smoking for good and never come back to poisoning your lungs. Take care!
The post Getting Rid of the Habit: Practical Tips for Overcoming Triggers appeared first on The Right Messages.