Imagine that you are smoke free. You have crisp clean air rushing into your lungs. You feel energetic. You smell good. Your feel normal again. Alive! You know that you should (need) to quit smoking, don’t you? You know its not good for you. You know that if you don’t quit soon its going to ruin your health. But how do you go about it?

I got stressed and I smoked. I got bored and I smoked. I ate a meal and I smoked. I got in the car and I smoked. I drank and I smoked. I came to the realization that I was behaving like nothing more than a less shaggy version of Pavlov’s Dog. I was simply responding to stimulus with a learned reaction. That’s not how I wanted to live my life.

When I first attempted to quit smoking I decided I was just going to stop. Just like that. And let my sheer force of will carry me through. And as you have already guessed, I failed. And not necessarily due to the lack of willpower, but more importantly due to the lack of preparation and planning.

Here are some steps with which you can bolster your willpower and go into quitting much more prepared and with a little bit of knowledge on your side.

1. Motivation. Before you can make a substantial attempt at quitting smoking, you really need to want to do it. The source of this desire can come from any number of different places, but if that desire is something that you can own, something that is important to you, then you can make it work. For example, you may be frightened by the shocking health statistics related to smoking and their ramifications on your own physical health (see: Smoking Facts Every Smoker Should Know). Then again you may just have become sick and tired with the way smoking makes you smell. Whatever the reason, own it, focus on it, use it as the paddles to get your boat up this river.
2. X Marks the Spot. Pick a date. And no, don’t pick one a year from now. Pick a realistic date in the near future. Mark it on you calendar. Promise to yourself that this is the day that you will finally begin being free of smoking. This is the day that you will begin your new smoke free life. As you approach your date try and smoke as little as possible. Fight the cravings as much as you can. When you do smoke think about what each puff is doing to every part of your body. Recognize the awful taste of the smoke and realize that that smell is on your breath, your lips, your tongue, your clothes, and your hair. Smell your hands when you are done. Reinforce that this is not how you want to be.
3. Scorched Earth is the Best Policy. Scour your environment for anything smoking related and get rid of it. Don’t just pack it away. Throw it out. Get rid of it. Toss all your ashtrays. Throw away any and all remaining cigarettes. Get rid of lighters and matches. Clean rooms that smell like smoke. Clean your car and use air freshener. Remove all avenues of smoking from your environment that you can control, as well as any reminders of it. You don’t want anything lying around that might tempt you to have just one more.
4. Learn Your Lesson From History. If you have made an attempt at quitting smoking before, spend some time analyzing what worked, and what didn’t. This is a good time to determine what the weak links in your armor might be. Work on ways to strengthen those links or avoid them altogether.
5. Enough is ENOUGH. Remember that this isn’t just a game. This is the real thing. You are deadly serious about this. Just as the diseases and illnesses that are caused by smoking are deadly serious.
6. Its OK to Ask for a Lifeline. Let your family, friends and associates know that you are quitting smoking. Hell, I’ll give you an example right now. I, Scott English, am committing myself to quitting smoking; I’d appreciate your support in assisting me reach my goal of becoming smoke free. Enlist the assistance of your family, friends and those that care about you. Tell them that you are making this decision for yourself and enlist their support. A word of warning though: Don’t rely on others to reinforce your resolve. This is your quest. Others may provide cheering from the sidelines, but always remember that you are the one that is responsible for achieving this goal.
7. What’s Up Doc? Talk to your health provider (your doctor) and ask them for suggestions and recommendations about medications and other assistance that will help you with your goal of becoming smoke free.
8. Something Shiny, Something Blue, Something New. One of the most difficult things that I have found about quitting smoking is distracting myself from thinking about smoking. It is incredibly important that you distract yourself at the times that you were most regularly likely to smoke. Instead of driving to work the usual way where you can drive on autopilot and consider smoking, take an alternate route where you need to concentrate on turnoffs. After you eat, go and get busy with a hobby or exercise. Instead of smoking as a result of stress, do some breathing exercises or yoga. Read A Key Ingredient to Quitting Smoking and Alcohol: Engaging Your Mind for other suggestions about how to take your mind off the thought of quitting and focus on other more productive things.
9. Everyone Is Smoking. No, they aren’t. Though it may seem like it, only about 20% of the population of the United States is a current smoker. You may just have a heightened awareness of it. Stay away from situations where you are exposed to smokers. Avoid other smokers.

With this guide to quitting smoking you should now have some very useful tools at your disposal. Talk to your doctor for additional assistance. But whatever you do, if you want to quit, stop just going with the flow, stop smoking because it seems easy to do. Stand tall and make your decision. Draw a line in the sand and guard that line with all that you have.

You’ll never regret that you did.

This is an opportunity for you. Do you want your next one to be when your doctor informs you that you have lung cancer?