Maybe your New Year’s resolution to quit smoking melted away faster than the snowman in the front yard, and your springtime efforts to end your nicotine addiction were as fleeting as a young man’s fancy. But that’s OK! When summer is here, it comes with the promise of warm weather, the anticipation of summer fun, and a chance to renew your commitment to living a smoke-free life.
So let’s get started with some helpful, practical tips for June to rev you up for giving up smoking for good.
You’re already planning the menu for your annual cookout and checking off items you’ll want to pack for your upcoming vacation. Now is the ideal time to make one more list—the one where you note all the reasons you want to quit smoking.
This list will help you focus on your goal to live a life without cigarettes. Don’t limit the items on your list only to health reasons. Feel free to list any aesthetic concerns (premature wrinkles) or social concerns (isolation from friends) that you attribute to your smoking.
Tape your list somewhere you can see it (such as your bathroom mirror) so you can review it daily.
Getting out into nature—where you can breathe clean air and feel the peace (or excitement) of your natural surroundings—will give you a delicious taste of the tobacco-free world. Plus, because most parks don’t allow smoking, you’ll have to resist the urge to light up (and you might just find that it’s not as hard as you thought it would be).
Deciding to quit smoking means it’s also time to learn how to relax. Sling up that hammock or spread a blanket out in the yard. Lie down and close your eyes. Envision having a newly healthy smoke-free body. Let yourself drift off. If you feel a craving for a cigarette, take deep, soothing breathes and challenge yourself to wait a certain amount of time before you give in to the urge.
Vacations can be an ideal time for preparing to quit. You’re away from your stressful everyday life, and you can use your new surroundings to separate yourself from smoking triggers. Because airplanes and other modes of transportation have now banned cigarettes, you could use your trip to practice resisting the urge to smoke for substantial lengths of time. Also think about requesting a nonsmoking room at your hotel—that way you’ll have to make an extra effort to find a place where you can light up.
You’ll need support as you embark on your journey to a cigarette-free life. Maybe you have a close friend of family member who’s also struggling to quit. If so, make an agreement that you’ll help each other along the way. Together, you can try out the tips given above, and then make a commitment to talk regularly about how each of you is progressing. Through mutual support, effort and courage, you two could find yourselves living happier, healthier, smoke-free lives in the very near future.