I hear that fairly often. Typically it’s a health concern that brings a person to a place where they accept that they should quit smoking (vaping, drinking excessively, or using other substances.) But they really don’t want to quit because they “like it!” I’m not sure that anyone actually likes sucking toxic soot into their …
NOTE: If you grasp the five distinct aspects of your complicated relationship with tobacco (or other substances) you are already way more likely to be successful at taking back your freedom. As you probably know, unless you’re very new here, we envision those five distinct aspects as the heads of a dragon. If you want …
“BESOCHEMPS” PS-ychological Compulsion The PS in besochemPS is surely the slipperiest aspect of the beast – psychological compulsions. It’s quite evident that under different circumstances and to varying extents, we are all willing to participate in a behavior that we know is causing us certain harm. We’ll all quickly agree that it is not OK …
“BESOCHEMPS” EM-otional Urges EMotional urges can lead us to want to smoke (or use other substances/behaviors) as a means of avoiding unpleasant feelings. If we are feeling, for example, anxious, we’ve learned to reach for the “relief” of a cigarette. The nicotine in our brain results in the release of endorphins, which make us feel …
“BESOCHEMPS” CH-emical Cravings The CH in besoCHemps reminds us to be aware of how our body/brain have learned to depend upon a regular daily dose of a chemical. When we don’t get the drug, we can become physically uncomfortable. It’s very important that you learn to tell the difference between wanting to smoke because you’re …
BESOCHEMPS” SO-cial Triggers The SO in beSOchemps makes us aware that there are familiar SO-cial situations that can make us think about using. Notice that again, the face and the place only have the power to make us THINK about using. They can’t “make” us do it. In classes and phone coaching with smokers, I …
“BESOCHEMPS” BE-havioral Triggers The first of the 5 heads of the dragon represents the behavioral triggers that have become associated with our using. For a smoker, some common behavioral triggers are pouring a coffee, starting the car, answering the phone, and finishing a meal. We use the letters BE to represent that connection between wanting …
If you need to consult with a compassionate Quit Coach, get to a QuittersWin meeting, send a private message to arrange a free phone-coaching session, or hop on the Friday noon QuittersWin conference call every Friday at noon, EST.
