Your Decision must be so total that when your desire for nicotine begins tricking your brain INTO MAKING EXCUSES LIKE …….
"Well I'll just have one -there's no harm in that"
Or ……
"To-day is not the right day ( for the smoker there never is a right day) – I will definitely start tomorrow – or next Monday. Definitely".
No
Your decision must be so total that you will not even spend a second – a split second of your time in giving ANY credence to these excuses.
Please understand this DOES NOT MEAN that you should worry if you have these thoughts or doubts.
Of course not.
Everybody who gives up smoking will experience these thoughts, doubts and false excuses running through their mind, especially for the first few weeks.
The important point is:
YOU MUST NOT GIVE THEM ANY CREDENCE OR IMPORTANCE.
YOU MUST NOT WASTE TIME FIGHTING OR STRUGGLING WITH THEM.
JUST WATCH AND OBSERVE THEM AS THEY COME INTO YOUR MIND AND GO……
The only power they had in the past was the power YOU gave them – by FIGHTING them and WORRYING about them.
NOW you are not going to bother about them, and bit by bit they will just fade away and die.
Your attitude will be:
'So what if these ideas or excuses come into my mind? In the first week or two –of course they will. So I will expect them – and not make a big fuss of them. Soon they will be gone forever….."
This is a key point to realize if you want to enjoy the exciting process of giving up smoking for ever.
As far as you are concerned, once you have made the DECISION to stop – that is it.
KEY IDEA
It makes no difference what excuses or doubts flood your brain. You will not waste ANY time or energy even in considering them'.
Compare this to the person who has only made a weak commitment to stop.
Compare his frame of mind.
What he is really saying to himself is this:
"Well I'm not too sure how this is going to work out. But I want to stop so I'll give it a go. Hopefully, although I suppose it will be very difficult, I will survive – but let's see what happens".
But that person will soon begin to experience the doubts and…….. the mind's clever excuses that everybody who tries to stop has to face.
You, too will experience these doubts – these excuses.
Your brain will be on overtime.
What is happening is simple.
You want your nicotine fix.
However, nicotine knows it is too weak to get you to smoke on it's own so it conspires to get the help and co-operation of your past conditioning – your brainwashing.
It will flood your brain with wave after wave of doubts, negative thoughts and excuses…..
"I'll do it tomorrow – next week – next month etc…" Now is not the right time. I'll start……..
…….
These questions, doubts and excuses – no matter how many times they cross your mind ARE NOT IMPORTANT – WHAT IS IMPORTANT, like the craving to smoke IS HOW YOU RESPOND TO THEM.
The Quality of your Decision
This is where the importance of the 'quality' and 'depth' of your decision comes in.
If your decision to stop is weak, like the person above, you will find yourself struggling, fighting and resisting these excuses – these fears.
You will experience doubt, agony and restlessness.
You will begin to listen to them and wonder if, maybe they are right.
A struggle will then gradually develop between your desire to stop and these negative thoughts.
As this internal battle RAGES on, you will feel tired, frustrated and fed up with the whole thing – and in disgust you'll probably have a cigarette.
And what will this actually do: – It will simply confirm your old belief that giving up smoking is indeed agony!
But all this agony IS NOT COMING from the cigarette. It is coming from your mind. You caused it by your half decision. You had not made a fully committed decision.
What happened is that you ALLOWED yourself to listen to and get personally involved with these 'doubts and excuses'.
A thought pops into your head….
"Maybe I should just have one – or maybe I got it all wrong – I don't have to give up at all – all I really need to do is just cut down a little."
If you have not made a total commitment to stop, you WILL START TO ALLOW YOURSELF TO REACT TO THESE EXCUSES.
What if…………………?
Should I ………………..?
No I can't …………………?
Well, should I consider it ………………………….?
And on it goes …………….
And as we allow ourselves to consider these doubts, we experience struggle, tiredness, frustration…..etc
KEY IDEA
If your decision is ill-defined, weak or fuzzy then you will be PRONE
to react to all these doubts
.
Compare this to the person who has made a total commitment to stop.
He has told himself that under no circumstances will he ever smoke that first cigarette.
It makes no difference what may happen or how he may feel on any particular day – even if the heavens should fall down – he will never smoke again.
Because that person has made such a TOTAL, CONGRUENT AND COMMITTED decision to stop, when these negatives excuses pop into his brain – he will not experience any struggle, restlessness or frustrated agony – simply because HE WILL NOT RESPOND TO THEM.
Sure he will recognize that they are there, but to him they are just passing visitors……like clouds passing in the sky……..no point getting worked up about them……soon they will be gone ……..!
He can hold this attitude because he has made the decision that he will never smoke again…..
…… – SO WHAT IS THE POINT IN EVEN THINKING ABOUT THESE EXCUSES………. PASSING THROUGH HIS MIND.
