To the millions of smokers throughout the world, the prospect of quitting brings about conflicting emotions. On one hand the daunting prospect, the fear of the withdrawal symptoms and the feeling of 'what will I do if I don't smoke?' and on the other hand there is what I have labeled the 'counter arguments' which state; 'why should I give up if I don't want to?' or 'I'm too old to stop now' or 'no need to quit completely... If I cut down to 3 or 4 a day then that will be OK'.

These 'counter-arguments' are obvious signs that there is no real intention to stop smoking for good. If there were then these counter-arguments would not be present and the person would already have given up smoking for good.

There are many milestones in the process of giving up smoking;
The First hour without a cigarette
The first day,
the first week,
the first month,
The three month mark is an important one,
Nine months on and the nicotine is still tricking us...

After having stopped smoking for 18 months or so, most people think that the 'giving up' process has ended and there is no longer addiction. This is incorrect. This is one of the most dangerous times in stopping smoking. People at this stage think that they can control it now and that the odd cigarette once in a while won't do any harm and that they will not become addicted again. Well that's all that it takes... one cigarette, because that opens the way to repeat the experience another day, and then another day and then again and again until the person quickly finds themselves smoking several cigarettes a day and then the same amount of cigarettes as before they gave up. I have seen this happen to so many people, myself included. I actually gave up twice for periods of 18 months only to find myself smoking again. The maid problem was that I hadn't really committed to giving up 'for ever'. I never realized that giving up smoking was an ongoing matter and that years later I would still be tempted to smoke again.

The addiction is still very present even years after having given up. Giving up smoking is a lifetime effort. The act of giving up takes literally for ever. You have to continually say no every time you are tempted to smoke again. I have an elderly relative who gave up smoking 45 years ago... when she smells a cigarette she inhales deeply and says... mmm... I'd love to smoke a cigarette now. And that's 45 years on.

Unless you are prepared to really remove the all possibility of ever smoking again from your life then don't even bother trying to give up because you are not ready and you will most probably start smoking again sooner or later and this will attack your self esteem making it more difficult to give up again.

Once you have decided that you are ready and that you really want to give up for good then you must set yourself some reasons for giving up to counteract the foolish 'counter arguments' that your nicotine addiction will throw up continually over the next few years.

Get clear on your reasons for giving up... these reasons are perfectly logical and will make sense to us all (most of the time).

Primarily health reasons.. none of us want to kill ourselves by smoking, (yet a smoker will convince themselves that it will not happen to them) Think of the benefits.. clean breath, better lung power and easier breathing, able to go into no smoking areas and enjoy them without feeling the craving to smoke.

You should have very strong and clear visions or desires to stop smoking because later when the addiction starts to play tricks on your mind then you have to be strong enough to see that and having clear reasons to fall back on will help you fight the addiction in the few key moments that will arise in which you might fall back into becoming a smoker again.

When I feel tempted to smoke a cigarette again I tell myself that I really do want to give up

To stop smoking you have to resign yourself to the fact that it must be for ever. This sounds obvious now but it is common to start smoking again after many years of not smoking, normally triggered by something that can be used as an 'excuse' such as... 'it was an extremely stressful time at work'. Or a divorce or relationship split etc.

So before you give up smoking, ask yourself if it will really be for good, get clear on your reasons for giving up... I mean extremely clear, you may even want to write them down, and then use those reasons daily for years to come to attack any silly little 'counter arguments' your nicotine addiction might thrust into your logical thinking.

At the To Stop Smoking website you can sign up for the free 5 day email course designed to help you stop smoking with ease. There are also many resources and tips on how to stop smoking for good.