Success For Life

This month sucked.

My Dad had just come out of the hospital after having triple heart bypass surgery. One of the biggest operations out there. And as soon as he got some color back in his cheeks and we stopped being scared that he was going to die because of something stupid like sneezing too  hard we were blind-sided in the early evening with a phone call from the hospital.

My Babcia (Grandmother in polish) had blacked out, crashed to the floor, and had broken her hip. I rushed to the hospital to then spend the next eight hours hanging out with her in emergency. Trying my best to comfort her as she cried out in pain.

And since my family likes to have heart attacks, and because my heart seemed to be acting a little funny for the last few months I thought I should probably get that checked out. So I spent an afternoon having my chest shaved, being hooked up to machines, and almost passing out all.

Meanwhile over at Robin Sharma Headquarters (my day job) I was tasked with two of the biggest projects I’ve ever worked on. And because I had only been on the job for less than a month I really wanted to hit these out of the park.

Then I got this bright idea…

Right there, in the middle of all this madness, I decided it would be a great time to finally quit smoking. Crazy I know. But I’ve been wanting to quit for awhile.

I mean really quit.

Not just the keep our fingers crossed hope this sticks kind of quitting. It was time to actually do it. It was time to finally quit smoking.

No pretending to quit. No scamming smokes from my smoker buddies on the weekends. And no late night, “OMG I really need a smoke” moments where I go out wandering the streets at 3am in search of an open convenience store.

Nope. Something inside of me just clicked. Maybe it was all the hospital time. Maybe it was the twenty-minutes on the treadmill hooked up to monitors being entranced by all the blinky lights. (The pretty nurse was a bonus). Whatever the reason I just knew that at 37 it was finally time to quit smoking.

So below I will share with you all my nic-fitting wisdom. Everything that I have done to kick the habit.

(If you have any other suggestions leave them in the comments below. If they’re good I’ll add them to this post. That way we can create a HUGE resource for the other foolish brave souls who are going to dare to crossover.)

How I Quit Smoking

Plan Ahead

With any big project that you’re working on its always good to have a plan. Quitting smoking is no different.

When it finally sunk in that I was ready and willing to do this I didn’t just quit right then and there. Some people can do that and that’s awesome if you’re one of the chosen few. But most people have to really put things into perspective and choose wisely the road ahead.

Know Why You’re Quitting

So why do you want quit smoking. The reasons better be more compelling than the pleasure you get from smoking. Because if they’re not strong enough to spur you on when the times get tough you’ll never make it.

Some of the reasons why I quit smoking were:

• To save the $2470 a year that I would be spending on the smokes
• To be able to run up a flight of stairs and feel like I can run up 10 more flights
• To be around as long as possible for the kids
• To have a better sex life (Guys, did you know that smoking screws up your junk)
• To no longer be a social outcast

Choose Your Date Wisely

So you’ve convinced yourself to quit smoking. Great. Now you just need to figure out the when to your what.

For me, I looked ahead at my schedule for a couple of weeks. I needed to wrap my head around what was coming down the pipeline and figure out when would be the best time to do this. I wanted a weekend where I could just do absolutely nothing if I wanted to. If I wanted to sleep all day I could. If I wanted to be a hermit I could. And the most important factor for me came down to two things – Eavan and Shea – my kids. I had to find a weekend where I could be away from them.

Quitting smoking is hard to do. I’m not going to tell you that it’s easy. Because it not. It sucks. And most people turn into evil emotional monsters when they give it a try. I knew this. Accepted it. And worked it into my quit smoking strategy. I wanted to make sure that if the “Evil Ian” aspect of myself reared its nic-fitting head I wouldn’t be anywhere near my little monkeys.

Minimize Stress

There’s always going to be some level of stress in your life. Unless of course, you choose to join a Buddhist monastery for a little while. But even then there’s the sweeping, washing dishes, and other work that needs to get done. The temples not going to clean itself you know. So if donning a safron robe isn’t an option, then you better figure out ways to minimize the stress in your life.

I tried to minimize the amount of stress I would have to face for at least a couple of days. How’d I do that? By avoiding it altogether.

MindShifting

I had to do some Jedi mind tricks on myself to make sure this quitting smoking process stuck. So a little question I asked myself during the tough or stressful times was,

“What would I do if smokes didn’t exist?”

That way my mind was forced to come up with alternatives to help me calm down and relax.

Have a Crutch

Sometimes you need a little help. A crutch. Some form of support. I chose ketchup chips. Hence the extra 5 pounds I’m carrying around with me right now.

As a little reward for making it through the day without killing anyone or dashing out to the store for a pack of smokes I had a yummy little treat to say “Way to go Ian!”.

Get Plenty Of Sleep

Rest. Take it easy. And get tons of sleep. Your body is gonna to be going through some major changes. You’re going to be giving it one of the biggest shocks it has ever experienced. So in the least, for the first three days go to bed early. If you can do the first week even better.

Tell Someone

One of the main reasons why we don’t follow through on our goals is that there’s no accountability there for us. We usually keep our goals to ourselves. Which means that if we don’t follow through on what we set-out to achieve no one is any wiser.

I was recently reading some research studies that showed that the people who actually and continually achieve their goals are people who have told at least one person. And some achievers even give these “friends” permission to question them on their progress and intervene if they catch the individual going off course.

For me, I told Robin and the team over at Sharma Leadership International. I let my family and friends know. And pretty much spilled the beans to anyone who would listen.

And now I’m telling you as well.

Take It One Day At A Time

Every day of your life is different. You’re going to have good days and bad ones. Don’t sweat it. It’ll get easier in time. I’m about two weeks into this now and I have to say that I’m starting to feel “normal”. Sure I still get the occasional nicfit and my energy still isn’t 100% but I feel the changes happening.

Remember Woody Harrelson

In the amazing movie “Go Further” Woody talks about how he quit smoking. He mentioned that one of the tricks that helped him quit was taking a lot of deep breaths. Try this for yourself. When you feel tight or tense, stop for a moment, close your eyes, and take a deep a deep breath in.

Avoid Smokers

I love my friends that smoke. But I’m glad that I haven’t seen them during the last two weeks. It’s always super tough to say no to the smokes if everyone you’re hanging out with is heading outside for a butt.

Avoid Situations That’ll Weaken Your Will

Willpower is usually defined as: self-control – the trait of resolutely controlling your own behavior or the unwavering strength of will to carry out one’s wishes. But it’s hard to use self-control and have the strength to do what you want when you’re exhausted. And I’m not just talking about being physically exhausted. There’s more to you than blood, bones and flesh.

So for me, during the last two weeks I haven’t:

• Had a drink
• Stayed up all hours of the night
• Put myself in highly stressful situations

You Can Quit Smoking Too!

So there you have it – my action plan on how I was able to quit smoking. It hasn’t been fun or easy but it’s been totally worth it. I can tell you that it DOES GET EASIER as the days go by. Yes it’s hard – but it’s not that hard. Don’t beat yourself up if you try to quit but start to smoke again. The timing has to be right. Trust me I know.

Recommendations If You’re Going To Quit Smoking

1. Print out this post and use it to draft up you’re own plan
2. Add your name and intention to quit smoking to the comments below
3. Tell you friends and family that you’ve chosen to quit smoking (accountability)
4. Share this post on facebook and twitter and be sure to include in the comment that you have chosen to quit smoking (accountability)
5. Remember that other people have done this and succeeded

I hope this helps.

Keep Being Inspirational!

Ian

---

---

16 Comments for My Journey To Hell And Back or How I Quit Smoking

---