SELF IMPROVEMENT
How I Quit Smoking After 18 Years!
Following these 3 techniques worked miracles
📅 July 31, 2016 — I quit smoking. Forever.
5 years, 251 days.. and not counting anymore!
😇 Please trust me on the cliché — Quitting has never felt better.
“Giving up smoking is the easiest thing in the world. I know because I’ve done it thousands of times.” — Mark Twain
I’m about to show the techniques that will work 100%, but before that let me narrate how it all began.
I was heavily influenced by movies and TV in my growing years.
I was fascinated by the style-quotient of the screen heroes smoking 🚬. Also, my father was a smoker. After years of resisting the temptation, I finally picked up the glamor stick sometime in October 1996.
555 — I chose the brand of my favorite Bollywood screen hero.
And I felt on top of the world!
I secretly fantasized about myself as a hero —someone who could impress the girls, jump tall buildings, drive fast cars, bash up bad guys, and win in any sport!
(Cough!) I snapped out of my fantasy.. wondering why the screen heroes never coughed after smoking 🤔
As I became an expert smoker, I didn’t realize how much additional baggage I brought to myself and my near ones. I’m not just talking about second-hand smoking, but other annoying things that I kept repeating.
Most smokers do not realize what they lose/gain until they quit. (Please read on…I reveal this at the end.)
Almost 20 years later, I quit.
I was an emotional, weak person 🥺 all along to get into this habit and not come out of it for years.
❌ I tried to quit several times, bringing the number down, stopping for a week or two — but I always went back to it. There was always some lame excuse or a silly argument or yet another party!
✅ But this time was different. This time it was final.
Let’s jump into the 3 techniques I used.
👉 #01 — Partner With Family and Friends
“I can’t do this alone.”
I involved my family — wife, son, and daughter in my journey.
I asked them to forgive me in advance for any irritable behavior and sudden mood swings — that they would experience, as I would struggle with withdrawal symptoms.
I hurt them, but they supported me unconditionally — as I was healing ❤️🩹.
I involved my friends — smokers and non-smokers. I asked non-smokers to lecture me out of the habit. And I asked smokers to understand my goals and not invite me to share a smoke with them.
I felt accountable.
Everyone obliged. I was determined to not let my family and friends down, and come out winning this game!
It worked.
(Now, some smoker friends hate me, as their wives take my example to lecture them out of their habits — hope they too quit soon!)
👉 #02 — Take External Help (Apps, Books)
I researched plenty of resources — both online and offline — that could help me. I was even tempted to join a Smoking Cessation Program but was too shy and embarrassed to actually do that.
I used two specific resources that really helped me.
Mobile Apps — Of the few I experimented with, Butt Out worked wonders. Many apps, including Butt Out, do a great job of showing daily progress and badges of achievement — motivating you to maintain your no-smoking streak.
Butt Out app goes beyond the Dashboard. It has a social element. Imagine it like a virtual smoking cessation program. People post messages about their journey — streaks, cravings, remedies, support, falling back, etc.
Earlier I was only reading the messages. When I did not smoke for 10 days at a stretch, I made a post. I received so many replies.
People who were clean for 30+ days — encouraged me to continue my streak. And people who were just 2 days clean — congratulated me and said they’re looking up to me. Soon I found myself encouraging others 😇.
I felt responsible — for the people behind me.
I felt motivated — by the people ahead of me.
It worked.
Audiobook — I got the audible of Allen Carr’s Easy Way To Quit Smoking. Music time was replaced by this audiobook — whether it was during a commute or at leisure.
This book has a unique way to voice out and break associations you have with the smoking activity. Once I was able to break them apart, it was easier to lose the habit.
Here’s a list of my associations (when I would smoke):
- after meals
- while waiting for someone
- coffee break
- after reaching any parking lot
- after an argument
- after some happy news
- after some sad news
- with alcohol
- with friends
- just bored
Without going into much detail, I was able to relax and break out of some of my associations with smoking. Eventually, I broke all of it. 😌
I felt free.
It worked.
👉 #03 — Find an Activity That Goes Against The Habit
I don’t remember exactly, but somehow I got an urge of running 5K. I had never done it prior to 2016. I downloaded an app (C25K) and began training.
I realized immediately that I had no capacity for running. I couldn’t even do a whole minute when I started 😅. But I fell in love with the act of it. It was fun to be outside early morning (before the heat) and put in some strides in my favorite 3 stripes (I’m still the same person who’s influenced by screen heroes).
Anyway, I knew I would have to deal with the fact of my overworked lungs.
Should I continue to torture it by feeding it smoke or should I relieve it from the poison and fill it with fresh ‘running’ air instead?
I knew my answer. Apart from the above two techniques, this one had a unique effect.
It felt as if I was not giving away ‘feeling high’ — but only substituting the means to achieving it! Smoking would give me a ‘high’ secretly and temporarily, whereas running would do it publicly and permanently.
I felt smart.
It worked.
🏆 Since then, I have run two half-marathons, multiple 5Ks and 10Ks.
Closing Thoughts
One step at a time.
I started the quitting journey by counting hours. I would tell myself, I’m not going to smoke for another hour. After 3 days, I increased the ‘unit’ from an hour to a day.
I’m not going to smoke for another day.
Then weeks, and then months.
After 6 months, I let the app keep the count, and I would celebrate every anniversary, on July 31 — by sharing a “Smoke-free” thank you note to my family and friends. The last one I shared:
Finally, here’s a list of my losses and gains:
👎 I lost — my mood swings, the mints and mouth fresheners, the stink from my clothes, my hand soap strips, the yellow in my teeth, few friends, my coffee habit, and most importantly — my intent to smoke — ever!
👍 I gained — time, money (more than $12K), taste buds, appetite, respect, love, new hobbies and habits, confidence, and most importantly — my health!
Copyright © 2022 Vishal Mehta. All Rights Reserved.
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