Smoking Is Not Just An Addiction

The new nicotine patch?

Here is a great tip. Stop smoking! Easier said than done? Why is smoking such a difficult thing to stop? Cigarettes are very addictive and a deeply ingrained habit. People, habitual by nature, may be the reason quitting is so difficult. With the nicotine gums, lozenges and patches to overcome the cravings, the habit itself needs to be addressed.

If we were not habitual, simple tasks like going to the store, become problematic. Can you imagine looking up directions to the store every time you needed groceries, or too find your way to work? So the question becomes; are memory and habits using the same part of the brain? According to ehow the frontal lobe, is the part of the cerebral cortex under the forehead, functions to control memories involving habits and motor activity. The temporal lobes, located just above the ears, are used to control memory acquisition.

So, it makes sense why habits are so hard to break. Have you ever tried to forget something? We all have forgotten things; but have you ever made a conscious effort to forget something? That is why habits are so hard to break. Habits are a type of memory.

The more a habit is repeated, the stronger the neural connection becomes, and the deeper a pattern is engraved. If you think about how many times a day you smoke a cigarette, then multiply that times the number of years you have smoked, you can see how ingrained the smoking habit has become!

Break the habit!

The website, self improvement mentor.com states, “Experts claimed that complete abstinence of a habit for 21 to 30 days will be enough to break it. So, you don’t have to worry about having to continuously struggle to not indulge in a habit for the rest of your life. After 21 to 30 days, you would have surpassed the required threshold. What you need to do is challenge yourself to keep away from that habit for 30 days.” Take up the 30 day challenge; and see it through. If you stumble or fail along the way, start the habit breaking challenge from the beginning.

If At First You Don’t Succeed, Try Try Again

 

An old saying but there is a lot of truth to it. The process of repetition is just repeating the same old habits. The process of repetition with change is a formula for success. Look at quitting smoking as a two part challenge; one, the addiction itself and two, the ingrained habit to light up.

Search for tips on quitting smoking with Google then search for tips on breaking bad habits. Use the information you find and maybe, just maybe, you can kick the smoking habit. We wish you the best of luck!