STAYING IN CONTROL: A nonsmoker for life
Staying quit for good will be easier if you think of yourself as a "nonsmoker," instead of an "ex-smoker." What's the difference?
- Ex-smokers see themselves as smokers who are just not smoking today. Smoking is an option which they refuse every day.
- Nonsmokers make a decision once and for all that smoking is not an option. They don't have to struggle with a new decision every day. They may feel an urge to smoke now and then, but their self-image simply does not allow smoking anymore.
What if you don't feel like a nonsmoker right away?
Even though you're doing the things nonsmokers do, you may not feel like a nonsmoker right away-it can take a while for your mind to catch up with your actions.
What can you do to start feeling like a nonsmoker?
- Remember that being a nonsmoker is your natural state. You were born a nonsmoker, and you can be a nonsmoker again.
- Think of other times when your self-image changed. Some common examples are leaving school, getting married, having kids, changing careers, having grandkids, and retiring. Going through any one of these may have felt awkward at first. But gradually, you adopted a new self-image. Becoming a nonsmoker is the same.
- Arrange your daily life so that cigarettes don't "fit in" anymore.
- Tell yourself that smoking is not an option in any situation.
- Refer to yourself as a nonsmoker regularly.
- Picture yourself five or ten years from now as a nonsmoker. Hold onto that positive image.
SEE THE HELPLINE FACT SHEET: Positive Thinking
