Stop smoking products, available at your local pharmacy, can certainly help reduce your cravings and the withdrawal symptoms you’d normally get from going ‘cold turkey’. However, many smokers still struggle with the situations and times of the day when they’d normally smoke, such as to unwind or after a meal. The mental struggle that accompanies giving up smoking can’t be underestimated.

So along with smoking cessation NRT, here are a few clever mind tricks to help you stop smoking for good:

1. Make quitting your #1 goal – don’t consider quitting an option but something you MUST do for the sake of your health, bank balance and the people around you. Keep thinking of it as one of your life’s main goals, rather than an option you can always go back on.
2. Visualise yourself succeeding and what you’ll be like as a non-smoker. Imagine yourself being healthier, happier and more energetic without the need for nicotine.
3. Tell yourself positive, confidence boosting statements, such as ‘I can do it’, ‘I will not be defeated by my cravings’ and ‘It’s getting easier’. Use these sayings as positive mantras you can repeat to yourself to block out any negative thoughts.
4. Keep a money jar or note down how much money you’re saving from not smoking. As the jar fills up you’ll have a visual reminder of the benefits of not smoking and can treat yourself (you might even have enough for a holiday) when you’ve finally stopped smoking for good.
5. Write down a list of the good and bad reasons for giving up smoking. Be honest with yourself and consider the long term implications of continuing to smoke. I’m confident that the good reasons will outweigh the bad.
6. When the cravings kick in, instead of thinking ‘I can’t smoke’ rephrase this as ‘I choose not to’. Mentally lowering the demands of your cravings in this way will help them seem more manageable and cigarettes less enticing.
7. The desire to smoke can still occur months, or even years, after smoking cessation therapy has ended. This urge is driven by the memory of smoking, such as when lying on a sun bed on holiday the previous year, rather than an actual physical craving. Knowing that it’s your memories rather than nicotine making you want to smoke can help break its spell.
8. If you do find yourself smoking exhale into a clean white tissue and watch it turn brown. I’ll bet you’ll have much less of an urge to take another drag.
9. Find ways of distracting yourself when the cravings start demanding your attention. Try going for a walk with a non-smoker, eating a piece of fruit or singing to music in the car.
10. If you smoke to relieve stress, find other ways of coping with stressful situations. Exercise, deep breathing and meditation are useful relaxation techniques that are good for your mind, spirit and certainly a lot better for your health.

As well as providing you with NRT, smoking cessation sessions at your local pharmacy are a great opportunity to discuss which techniques are working and helping you to cope with the situations when you’d normally smoke.

Giving up smoking is a frame of mind as well as a biological process. With the help of a few of the mind tricks above, you can keep reminding yourself why giving up smoking is the smart thing to do.