The Truth About Quitting Smoking Cold Turkey

By Todd K Williams

If you have ever considered the notion that you may like to quit smoking 'cold turkey' and you consider yourself strong enough to deal with anything quitting throws at you, there are a few things you may wish to think about. They are the strength of your willpower, the lack of preparation of this method, and the way you think about cigarettes. We will discuss all three concepts in this article, and then you should be able to decide whether or not this method really is for you.

One of the most popular ways to quit smoking, is by going 'cold turkey'. To go cold turkey means to stop smoking suddenly without much thought or planning. It's popularity arises more from the fact that it does not require anything but ones willpower to quit.

Other reasons for it's popularity include the fact there is nothing to buy, no one to rely on and little preparation has to take place. Most people will throw out anything that reminds them of their smoking habit. Cigarettes, lighters, ashtrays and anything else to do with smoking. The old out of sight, out of mind scenario.

Unfortunately for smokers, popularity does not equate to success. In fact cold turkey has one of the lowest success rates of all the quitting methods. How many times have you heard a smoker say, "I quit smoking cold turkey for a while, but I started back up again?"

Why would this be? The notion of using ones willpower has to be commended. It shows the smoker has confidence in themselves and their abilities. The problem is, this is simply not enough in the vast majority of cases. Nicotine is so highly addictive that even the strongest of willpowers can falter when the going gets tough.

When you quit, you want to give yourself the power and ability to say no.

By not preparing your mind beforehand you actually give all the power to the nicotine. This is the exact opposite of what you are trying to achieve. You want to block the thought of smoking from your thoughts, not have it sitting there in the back of your mind eating away at you. Each passing week, day, hour, even minute makes the thought of smoking a cigarette more and more appealing. When resistance is finally broken, that first cigarette is the most wonderful cigarette you will ever have.

You come away thinking two things.

a). Smoking is great and it is a part of you.

b). It is hard to quit so I won't bother to try again.

Cold Turkey relies on the individual to focus on the reasons why they should quit. Every smoker knows that they should quit and the reasons for it. Smoking is bad for their health, others, their wallet, the environment etc etc. If every smoker could simply focus on these and then quit there would be 99% less smokers on this planet (1% left for the absolute no hopers out there).

In order to successfully quit, smokers need to drastically change the way they think about smoking. It is not a reward/pleasure. It is a curse and should be thought of as such.

Another important aspect of quitting, is finding the reasons why smokers light up in the first place. What is it that sets them off? Why do they feel that it is needed in their life? It is far more than just a nicotine addiction. As soon as a smoker realises this, they are one step closer to quitting.

Once a smoker discovers the reasons why they smoke, it makes it a lot easier to change the way they think about smoking.

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