If you’ve made a resolution to quit smoking how is it going? Are you winning or struggling? Many of us start off a New Year with a resolution to stop or drop a habit and find the going gets tough pretty quickly.
The reason for this is that as we make our promise to quit our mind jumps to scenarios of our doing the very habit that we want to drop. Result? We end up thinking about doing it all the time and then cave in.
It’s like we’re trapped in a never-ending cycle doing the same old stuff over and over and never being able to break free and feeling pretty bad about it.

If this seems familiar don’t worry we’ve all been there and there is a way you can stop the cycle and succeed. You just need to know how to put your mind to the task.

First off, focus your intention. When we say something like; ‘I don’t want to do X or Y anymore,’ or ‘I wish I didn’t X everytime . . . .,’ it remains as ‘want’ or a ‘wish’ to our minds rather than an intention.

To make it an intention we have to imagine what we would be like if we didn’t do the unwanted habit. That means using our imaginations and mentally experiencing the new us without the unwanted habit. When you do this you are activating neural pathways in your mind and starting the process of making it happen.
To load your chances of success even further explore what is important to you about breaking this habit. Take some time and make a quick-fire list of all that occurs to you that is a value to you.
Each time you get a value ask this question; ‘And if I get xxxxx value, what will that do for me?’

Doing this uncovers your deepest beliefs and values and these are what will propel you towards the goal.
So if the habit was smoking and you really wanted to break it, you would start this process by imagining yourself enjoying all the benefits of being a non-smoker, such as not having to wait agitatedly while a meeting finishes so you could rush out and smoke. Smelling the freshness of your clothes, skin and hair. Being able to run or play with the kids without heaving for breathe and so on.
Next, take some paper and quickly write down a list in simple terms what’s important to you about quitting. For example if one of the words on your list is ‘health’, ask the question; ‘And if I got this, what would that do for me, or what’s important to me about health.’ Your answer might be something like, I can look after my children and see their children. Then use the question on this statement and so on until you feel you’ve reached a ceiling. Very soon you’ll unleash your own powerful motivators that when aligned to your visualisations of the new you will propel you to success. So what are you waiting for?