I have been talking to many people lately about stopping smoking, including vaping. People wanting to take that leap of faith and make a positive life-style change for them. Some have stopped smoking then started again, feeling angry, frustrated and a bit stink. If you are one of these people or are afraid to even give it a go I have compiled my top 8 tips that could help, in no order at all.

1: Write down the good things and not so good things of smoking and then do the same for stopping smoking. Just make 4 columns on a piece of paper. This can help because it highlights the reasons for stopping and maybe some other areas in your life that may need some work. The latter usually highlighted in the not so good column of stopping smoking.

2: Be OK with going back to smoking once you have stopped. Many people think it's the end of the world of they start again. Turn it around by making a positive experience by learning from it, look at what triggered you to start thinking about smoking in the first place and what you could do to change it.

3: Set a specific date to stop on. Remember to write this down.

4: Instead of trying to stop all at once, slowly cut down by 5 or less cigarettes a week. This means that if you smoke 20 a day for the first week concentrate on having 15 a day, the next week 10 , then 5 etc.

5: Keep a log of your smoking, times, environment, people you may have been around, how u felt before smoking and afterwards. This can give some great insight into what is triggering you to smoke then give you some ideas about what changes may need to be made.

6: Practice delaying having a smoke/vape, start by delaying it for 5 minutes then increase the time as you feel more confident.

7: Make it inconvenient to get a cigarette/vape. Out of sight out of mind is a great strategy. An example is if you find yourself smoking in the car then leave the cigarettes/vape at home. Put them in a place that you have to actively go to in order to get one. Some people will put the packet/vape at the bottom of a closet in a box.

8: Do something good for yourself that does not involve nicotine, alcohol or drugs. To reinforce the positive change you want to make it is important to reward yourself.

Of course not all tips will be practical to do all at once, you could just choose one and see how it goes. See what you learn and build from there.

Cheers

Glenn.