Here are some strategies used by people who have successfully quit smoking: commit to changing and sticking with it, take control, reassess the risks, seek support from those around you, manage cravings, control triggers, and reflect on your own behavior.
Commitment to change
You should tell yourself that you should stop smoking, that you are tired of being addicted to cigarettes, that you would be more physically fit if you stopped smoking, and think about the benefits of giving up smoking
Taking control
You should try to spend a whole evening without smoking, after meals, you should keep yourself busy rather than smoke, to avoid the temptation to smoke, you should stay away from places where people smoke, and you should wait as long as you can before you light your first cigarette for the day
Risk assessment
10—I tell myself that smoking will shorten my life 76
11—I am afraid that smoking will give me lung cancer 32 73
12—I think about the effects of smoking on my lungs 44 73
13—The information on the risks of smoking gives me something to think about 36 63
Helping relationships
14—I tell others about my effort to quit smoking 83
15—I tell others about my intention to quit smoking 35 79
16—I ask friends and family for support to help me quit smoking 63
Coping with temptation to smoke
17—To deal with my craving for cigarettes, I concentrate on other things 78
18—I keep busy to overcome the urge to smoke 74
19—I take deep breaths to fight off the desire to smoke
Risk assessment
1—The thought of the diseases caused by smoking scares me 77
2—I am afraid that smoking will give me lung cancer 77
3—I think about the disadvantages of smoking 73
4—The information on the risks of smoking gives me something to think about 67
Coping with temptation to smoke
5—To deal with my craving for cigarettes, I concentrate on other things 84
6—I keep busy to overcome the urge to smoke 82
7—I take deep breaths to fight off the desire to smoke 74
Stimulus control
8—To avoid the temptation to smoke, I stay away from places were people smoke 76
9—In public places, I sit in the no-smoking sections 33 71
10—I ask other people not to smoke in my home 66
11—I avoid situations which make me want to smoke 31 64 39
Self reevaluation
12—I am proud to have quit smoking 87
13—I feel a sense of accomplishment in having stopped smoking 77
14—I feel stronger than those who continue to smoke 69
Commitment to maintain change
15—I promise myself not to smoke ever again 81
16—I tell others about my effort to quit smoking 80
17—I think about ways of overcoming the urge to smoke
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