Want to Quit Smoking, But Lack Motivation

While there's not a person alive who doesn't realize the tremendous harm we do to our bodies by smoking cigarettes, there are still tens of millions of people smoking in the U.S. today. Once you're hooked on smoking, a strange dynamic comes into play. People who have never smoked can be quite arrogant in their disdain for the habit, with a holier-than-thou attitude that can be quite annoying. In fact, this type of attitude most often engenders resentment against that person, while oddly, reinforcing your desire to smoke.

Recent laws, prohibiting smoking in restaurants and bars, are expanding to public places in outdoor venues. Sure, it's reasonable that smokers should not subject non-smokers to this poisonous substance, but it doesn't help anyone quit. One state has even enacted legislation prohibiting smoking in your own car!

It's clear that you need to be personally motivated to quit. Your doctor's warnings and chastisements don't work. What will work is motivation that is personally significant. One thing that there's no shortage of is quit smoking information articles, websites, stop smoking helplines and quit smoking forums.

Here's one good strategy that works for many people. Without beating yourself over the head, or even making a commitment to stop smoking, get online and gather all of the quit smoking information you can find. Would you believe that cigarette manufacturers provide a wealth of quit smoking information right on their websites? I suspect they must be getting a tax break or some other incentive, but this doesn't invalidate the quality of the quit smoking information they make available for free. You don't even need to read the information - just scan it and copy and paste into one long file you can peruse at your leisure. Keep your quit smoking information file for your eyes only. Otherwise, you risk lectures from well-meaning but essentially unhelpful sources.

Another good online resource are the quit smoking forums and message boards. Even if you haven't set a date to quit, joining one of these forums can be a real eye opener. You won't find any arrogant people looking down their nose at you, that awful smoker. These groups are incredibly supportive. They've been there, done that. They will not be pressuring you to quit, but the quit smoking information they have to offer comes from the horse's mouth and may yield some quite valuable ideas to get you motivated.

Another useful resource for quit smoking information that might prove highly motivational is using the Google image search function to search out 'smokers lungs' and 'healthy lungs'. The graphic images may really knock your socks off.

Once you've gathered a substantial amount of smoking information from a variety of resources and perspectives, go through it, line by line. Highlight parts that really grab your attention. This is your own private file, to do with as you please. By the time you're done, you are likely to have real motivation that leads you to success. The best of luck to you.