Quit Smoking: The Importance of Positive Thinking

Getting away from negative thoughts to quit smoking peacefully

Many people may not realize it, but to end negativity you must first of all want it and try to say goodbye to it. But as it's difficult to resist a bar of chocolate when it is right under our nose, it is also difficult to be positive when we are surrounded by negativity. This is especially true when you quit smoking and you're on edge. Don't panic! Kwit has a few tips to help you get rid of this negativity and live your smoking cessation better:

• Stay away, at least for a while, from people who don't believe in you and who are trying to discourage you from quitting. Even if they don't realize it, their comments undermine your morale and you don't need that.

• You are unique, so avoid comparing yourself to other ex-smokers. The steps you'll have to take and the withdrawal symptoms you'll face may not be the same. So don't feel guilty about the fact that the process takes longer for you than it does for others. This process doesn't take longer, it's just different.

• Avoid using guilt-triggering methods and phrases to quit smoking. These will have an impact on your self-esteem and your stress, while being counter-productive in the long run. Prefer benevolent approaches, which encourage you to continue your efforts, rather than those based on fear. Kwit for example is there to support you during difficult times and help you remember how far you've come since you quit smoking.

Quit smoking without forgetting the importance of positive thinking

Once you have sorted out and eliminated the sources of negativity, it's time to welcome positive thinking into your life. But making such a change is not easy, especially if you have always thought that you are not naturally positive. The good news is that it's possible to learn to be positive. All it takes is the will and a little effort to change your thinking over the long term. We suggest that you follow these 5 steps in order to achieve this.

Step 1: Become aware of your negativity

You have gotten rid of external sources of negativity, however, negativity can also come from within, and therefore from yourself. The first step to positive thinking is to become aware of your negative thoughts and accept them. It's by accepting something that we understand it and are less afraid of it.

Quitting smoking can be stressful, especially in the beginning. Many people tend to downplay it and not give it the importance it deserves, always putting it aside without realizing how much it affects them. But it's not possible to ignore this stress or any other problem forever. Without addressing the causes, it may reappear when we are least prepared for it: when things are not going well and it's difficult to cope, for example when after a stressful day at work, you can't say no to a cigarette offered by a colleague. After this lapse, you may feel bad and think that you will never be able to quit smoking. You then become anxious, or rather, all the stress you had put aside catches up with you. That's why it's important to become aware as soon as possible of the negative elements that can affect you.

When you quit smoking, you are going through a lot of upheavals. Instead of ignoring them, accept them. That way you'll be able to figure out how to cope.

Step 2: Turning Negative Thinking into Positive Thinking

You have become aware of your negative thoughts and have accepted them. However, don't stop there and try to turn them into positive thoughts as soon as they come to you.

To speak again about the previous example, let's say you gave in and smoked a cigarette. You probably thought, "I suck, I'll never be able to quit smoking". But you've identified this negative thought, so you can change it to get the positive out of it. Okay, you smoked. But you are still a non-smoker. Why don't you just say, "Gee, I smoked, but it's not that bad. This lapse has helped me understand some of the triggers for my cravings, and I'll now know how to act in this situation. Plus, I only smoked one cigarette, even though I was used to smoking a lot more! ».

To transform its negativity into positivity, all you have to do is find the positive in each situation. If you do this, you will find that after just a few days your thoughts will become more positive.

Step 3: Nightly, remembering at least 5 positive events that happened during the day

To anchor this habit in your mind, it's a good idea to practice positive thinking as often as possible. This is why we suggest that you take a few moments every evening to remember 5 positive events that happened during the day. They may or may not have something to do with your smoking cessation.

For example, you can be happy because:

• By opening the Kwit application on your phone, you can see that you have unlocked new achievements.

• You've eaten your favorite food with people you love and haven't seen in a long time.

• At a party, you managed not to smoke even though temptations were present.

• The sun was shining outside, putting you in a good mood. Or the rain prevented you from going outside, but it motivated you to finish a very interesting book.

• You smoked a cigarette, but it's still less than the full packet you were consuming a month ago, and for that, you can be proud!

Of course, you can note more than 5 positive elements, do it according to your inspiration. Their nature can be diverse. The only important thing is that they have contributed to your daily happiness.

Step 4: Pay attention to the positive in every little detail

After a few days, you may have become accustomed to the exercise and therefore want to apply it throughout the day. Do not deprive yourself of it! Write down every little positive detail that comes to you, but also every negative thought that comes into your mind. Each time, try to turn it into a positive thought. Learn to grasp the beauty of the moment.

Step 5: Create a virtuous circle of positive thinking

By doing these exercises, you may notice changes quickly. You feel different, more... positive! According to Buddha, "We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts we make the world.". By focusing on seeing life in a positive way, you enter a virtuous circle of positive thoughts. It feeds off your worldview, and since you have set a goal of becoming positive, it feeds off your positive thoughts.

The 6 Keys of Positive Thinking to Quit Smoking

Even after incorporating it into your lifestyle, positive thinking needs to be nurtured. There are five essential mechanisms that will help you stay positive and keep this virtuous circle going.

The first thing to pay attention to when you practice positive thinking is how you formulate sentences. Specifically, avoid using negation whenever possible. Similarly, prefer to use the present tense, which makes things more concrete than the future.

For example, imagine that you want to quit smoking. When you wake up in the morning, instead of saying, "I won't smoke today," prefer to say, "I can face this day without smoking! ». This new formulation is more encouraging and less guilt provoking.

Autosuggestion joins the previous point. Every day, say a few positive statements out loud. Be careful to use the first person singular. For example, you can say these words:

• "I am able to resist when a craving arises."

• "I'm a wonderful person who deserves to take care of myself. So it's for my own good that I quit smoking."

• "I'm going to quit smoking with success."

By repeating these sentences to yourself daily, you will gradually assimilate them and they will give you the strength and motivation you need to quit smoking.

Thinking about your problems is never pleasant. Yet it is important to do so. It is a way to solve them. In order to do so, you have to understand them: where they come from, why they are triggered, in whose presence or in whose situation. When you have the answers to these questions, it will be easier to solve these problems. Moreover, proceeding in this way makes it possible to put things into perspective, to avoid making a mountain out of a concern which, when analyzed more closely, was in fact not so serious.

To stay positive, you need to be aware of your value. This will help you fight negative thoughts when someone tries to demoralize you, or when you are going through a difficult time. You need to be kind to yourself, and you can be proud of all your achievements, even the most insignificant ones. Basically, all of them are important, and all of them lead you to your final goal, and that's why you can be proud!

Just as you must accept yourself as you are, you must accept others as they are. We are all different, so why try to change someone because they don't share our beliefs or are not ready to follow our example? So, if someone close to you, like your partner, refuses to quit smoking, don't insist. It's their choice, their decision and you can't change it for them. However, this relative is not inferior to you because he or she still smokes and you don't. You are equals; you are simply at different stages of your journey. When the time comes, when they too will be ready to quit, then you will be there to help them and they will be all the more grateful to you.

Every time you feel attacked, you certainly react the same way. Without realizing it, you have developed defense mechanisms that you use when someone does something that offends you. But by doing so, you pay more attention to that offense than it deserves, and that hurts your positivity.

Instead of reacting this way, it may be a good idea to try to understand what you didn't like about the action, what affected you, and also to understand why the person who did it, did it. Often you will find that you misinterpreted these actions and that their primary purpose was not to hurt you. However, we are all different and we all react differently to situations that arise. So don't take it out on your friend who contradicted you by saying that the only way to quit smoking was to use nicotine replacement therapies. This may have been true for him, but there is no guarantee that it will be true for you as well. You are the only one who can tell. Discuss it among yourselves calmly some time later to ease the tension.

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