We all have heard the phrase ‘cigarette smoking is harmful for your health’ more times than we can recall, but when you try to quit it, you find reasons to continue smoking.

American Lung Association gave a comprehensive report stating that in the United States, exposure to second-hand smoke and smoking leads to more than 480, 000 deaths every year.

Even though people are aware of the health risk associated with smoking, you may be surprised to note that the use of tobacco is the leading cause of preventable death and disease.

If you wish to quit smoking, you need to know that it’s not a single event that will happen one day; it’s a journey and a hard task, but with determination and proper techniques, you can do it. If you have been trying to quit smoking without success, here are ten tips which can help you to get rid of this deadly habit.

Make a decision

When you started smoking, it’s probable that you decided to be smoking for one reason or the other. Similarly, quitting smoking requires you to make a decision and prepare your mind for that change. To quit smoking is not easy and it may cause health complications but make a decision that you will quit no matter what.

Examine your smoking routine

After making a decision, examine your smoking routine. This entails the times you are driven to smoke.

For instance, some people like smoking when they wake up or when retiring to bed, others after taking a meal or before going to the toilet, while others smoke when they meet with their friends or when partying, and some naturally love smoking.

Either way, you have your own routine which drives you into smoking and when you finally identify it, you will be able to plan how to manage the routine without smoking.

Make a plan to quit smoking

After deciding and examining your smoking routine, you are now ready to plan how to quit smoking. You can set a quit date which is not too far in the future, but which will give you ample time to be prepared psychologically.

Stick to the set date and don’t let anything drive you into smoking again. It’s always recommendable to prepare and come up with something to do in case you get an urge.

For instance, you can call a friend or engage in other activities that will occupy your mind with something else apart from smoking. Print it out and post it somewhere visible, be it in your workplace or at home.

Take a clean start

When the time you set aside to quit smoking comes, you should show that you are ready to quit smoking by doing away with anything associated with smoking.

You can start by throwing away ashtrays, cigarettes, cigarette lighter, and clean up your smoking zones such as your car and room. When leaving in a cigarette-free environment, you are motivated to lead a smoking-free life.

Make it public

Quitting smoking is a journey which you need people to go with. With that in mind, you need to make it public by telling your friends, family, and even sharing it on your social networks such as Twitter and Facebook.

When you make it public, people that care about you will definitely encourage you, and others will give you testimonials on how they managed to quit smoking. That way, your journey will be easier and manageable.

Plan the alternatives

If you are determined to quit smoking, it’s recommendable to quit any stuff that drives you to smoke, such as alcohol and coffee. After that, plan their alternatives such that when you feel the urge of drinking alcohol, take as much water as possible.

Also, change your lifestyle and meet with non-smokers on regular basis and share with them your decision, and most importantly, adopt healthy habits.

Define a non-smoking policy

After making it public that you want to quit smoking, some people will still trigger your smoking habits. Therefore, set a non-smoking policy where you don’t allow smokers to smoke in your home, car, or in your presence. Also, avoiding smoking zone will influence your stand to quit smoking.

Try nicotine replacement therapy

If you have been smoking for a long time, it could be challenging to quit. However, it will eventually work if you use nicotine patches, nicotine chew gums, or join quit smoking programs around you.

Be happy for your success

As stated earlier, quitting smoking is a tough journey and when you follow the instructions carefully and stop smoking, you need to be happy for that achievement. Therefore, organize a party with your friends and family and you will definitely feel you did the right thing.

Don’t give up

In order for average smokers to quit smoking, they try 10 to 11 attempts. If you did it the first time and got positive results, keep going and never give up.

Bottom line

Smoking is harmful to your health. It can damage your entire cardiovascular system, raise blood pressure, increase blood clots, weaken the walls of blood vessels, and damage your lungs. Smoking is also associated with various types of cancer such as skin cancer, oesophagus, throat, mouth and larynx cancer, pancreatic cancer, and lung cancer.

Smoking is not only harmful to you as a smoker but also to the environment and people around you. Therefore, keep safe and follow the above tips to stop smoking and you will get amazing results.