Personal Development through Thinking

Third Week

Now we change tactic. You have managed the 1-hour each day and it’s not important how long it took to get there. Congratulate yourself for reaching this point and remember not to use any of the usual failure and success language. Please continue giving up smoking for 1-hour a day in the next stage. You can increase it to 90 minutes if you like or 2 hours. Whatever time you set please keep in mind that the time is only guide, and if you do not reach it, you increased your time.

I would like you to halve the amount of cigarettes you smoke by day. So if you smoke 20 a day now you have two packets of 10 (the reason for keeping the old packet in the first week). If I were to tell you that you were only going to smoke 10 (or whatever half the amount is for you) cigarettes for the day how does it make you feel, anxious? Is that anxiety at the same level as when I first asked you to remember it? Is it greater or less? Remember how you are feeling at this moment. If you are feeling like throwing in the towel keep your motivation going by visualising a new you. Take time to imagine yourself the way you would like to be. Take a cup of coffee and sit back with a cigarette smiling about who you will be.

Relief! I am not going to tell you to only smoke 10. I want you to smoke them all. However, I want you to smoke against your routine. How many do you usually smoke in your break, 1,2, 3? If it’s 1, I want you to smoke 2, if it’s 3 then smoke 4 and so on. The next time you smoke after this I want you to cut it by 1. So you are smoking more at some times and less at others, always alternate. If your pattern of smoking is regular throughout the day then make it irregular. For example, If you smoke on average 2 cigarettes each hour at roughly 30 minute intervals then smoke 1 in the first hour and 2 in the second and so on.

The whole point of these exercises is to make the habit conscious in your minds, to experience withdrawal, and to change behaviour. You may find when the time comes to reduce or stop that you may or may not need some other help to do that, but it should be easier following this method. Notice I did not say easy, only easier, but there is no failure.

Something else that is also important at this time is to buy your cigarettes at different times than you usually do. If you get them in the morning get them the night before and never keep to the same time each day, always change the time as much as possible. You also now have two packs or more of cigarettes. Keep it this way whether you smoke 30, 40, or 50 a day always keep them in packs of 10’s. Don’t forget to keep to the 1 hour daily alternating your stopping times. So, to summarise

Week 3
a) Smoke 1 cigarette more and then 1 less and then 1 more and so on. (If after dinner you have 1 then smoke 2 one after the other, and then miss one out later).
b) Keep the cigarettes in packets of 10’s
c) Keep thinking about every cigarette you are smoking
d) Don’t slip into failure and success language
e) Don’t forget to continue giving up for 1-hour a day.
f) Never start chastising yourself, if you do, challenge the voice. Be kind to yourself. (You are on a journey or self-realisation)