Some tips to kick some butts

Cigarette butts that is.

Oy, the challenge of quitting smoking, or any bad habit for that matter. I've never been a smoker but I know how much I love chocolate and a nice glass of Masi and I can only imagine it's a million times more difficult than either of those two things. I've got 3 basic steps to simmer the fire at the tip of your fingers.

STEP ONE..

WANT TO QUIT! You won't get anywhere unless you are 100% committed to kicking your bad habit to the curb.
A psychology professor of mine once said, "If you're not willing to give up your habit right at this very second, even if it's been 10 hours since your last butt...if you say you want to quit, but you tell yourself, 'I will on Monday', you're not ready".
I agree with this statement. I think setting quit dates is a method of procrastination- and that's ok! Maybe you aren't ready to stop, maybe you don't want to. But when you do decide, enough is enough, go full force, take control!
I think for most addictions there needs to be a rock bottom. In terms of smoking, I'm not saying this needs to be something like discovering you have cancer- everyone seems to think a rock bottom is a near death experience, it doesn't have to be but can often lead to that unless you take control.
For example, a rock bottom could be getting fed up with the cost of smoking. You can keep track of how many cigarettes you go through a day, and realize the cost of your habit, and say "NO MORE", I'm done wasting my money on something that is a poor investment. You could also have a rock bottom such as realizing the social inconveniences of smoking- not too many places allow you to smoke anywhere near their front doors let alone in their building. You can say "I'm sick of feeling socially isolated because of this weight that is holding me back".
Figure out your rock bottom, and decide if it's worth quitting for....

STEP TWO...

Is it worth quitting for? Why are you quitting, who are you quitting for? Motivation to quit is crucial. New habits need to be formed in order to replace what you are dropping, to do this effectively you want to replace the bad with the good. i.e, you don't want to quit smoking and start drinking [heavily anyways ;)]. You want this to old habit to be removed from your life for good.
So, to start: we want to create new habits. To do this, you make almost like a pro's and con's list.You want to list the downfalls of your habit:
i.e. "If I continue to smoke I am going to be wasting $200 a month".
"If I continue to smoke I am going to feel socially isolated"
"If I continue to smoke I am harming my body and may get sick"

Then you want to write down and strongly focus on what will happen if you quit smoking:
i.e. "If I quit smoking I will have an extra $200 a month for myself and I can save up to travel to Europe"
"If I quit smoking I will not have to remove myself from a social event to go outside and light up"
"If I quit smoking I am healing my body and will not get cigarette-related illnesses".

Look at this list daily.

STEP THREE..

Find people with similar goals to you. There is a reason Weight Watchers is so successful and it's not because they let you eat chocolate cake! It's because of the support system it comes with. An inner circle with people who are encouraging and who want to see you achieve your goals is crucial to success. One way to do this is to do more things with people around you who don't smoke. Find that friend who likes to go the dog park, and join (regardless of whether you're a dog owner), call your friend who watched Sex and the City every night at 7:30, and hang out.
Surround yourself with people who truly want to see you achieve your goals. This may mean creating a new network of friends which is hard, but it is a growing processes and if you really commit to doing it, you will reach your destination.

I hope all of you who have ever considered quitting will use this advice as inspiration and pass it along to those who need it. IT'S YOUR LIFE, TAKE CONTROL. TREAT YOUR BODY AS A TEMPLE, NOT A ROLLER COASTER- YOU ONLY GET ONE. LIVE FOR NOW, AND THE FUTURE.
NAMASTE.