By Charles Westover
It seems like nowadays pressure to quit smoking is everywhere.
We usually think of pressure from our spouses, kids or parents to quit smoking. But in today's society the smoking police are everywhere! You can't seem to escape the glare of those who think its ok to look down on you because you are a smoker.
Pressure comes from all sides...
It seems like nowadays pressure to quit smoking is everywhere.
We usually think of pressure from our spouses, kids or parents to quit smoking. But in today's society the smoking police are everywhere! You can't seem to escape the glare of those who think its ok to look down on you because you are a smoker.
Pressure comes from all sides...
- Your Family: They want you to quit because they love you. We all know this, but they are doing you a huge diservice by pressuring you to quit. Instead of being supportive, it feels a lot more like nagging and the stress of them hounding you just causes to want to smoke more. If your like many of our customers, you may even find yourself trying to hide the fact that your smoking and that just sucks not to be able to be yourself around the people you love. (More about this in another article)
- Your workplace: You may be surrounded by a lot of non-smokers at work and feel very self conscious when you go on smoke breaks or how you smell after your smoke break. You may also be getting a lot of pressure from your employer to quit for health insurance reasons. The trend we are seeing nowadays is that many employers know when you smoke, it affects there bottom line. So many are going smoke free.
- Socially: It has become a lot of work today to be a smoker. You can't smoke when you go out to eat or at bars. You probably find yourself standing outside either alone or with other smokers at friends parties. Lets face it smoking has become socially unacceptable.
Right or wrong non-smokers (family, friends and even strangers) today have no shame opening their mouths and telling you that you need to quit smoking. Duh! Like you don't know this already. The pressure can feel like it is coming from all sides.
What can you do?
- Be yourself: Don't hide the fact that you smoke. It might be a little painful to expose yourself, but if you want to be free, you have to be yourself. The more you hide that your smoking, the more you will place importance on those times when your alone and you feel free to smoke and be yourself, which will make it harder for you to let go when you finally decide to quit.
- Tell them its Personal: Tell your friends and family members that you know they mean well, but quitting smoking is a personal decision that you have to make on your own. Letting them know that quitting is on your mind and that you are trying to find a way to quit and a time to quit that works for you, will get them to back off. When you have some breathing room without everyone stressing you out, you will likely find it easier to make the final decision to quit without pressure.
Ultimately the final decision to quit smoking is yours. It is a very personal decision to quit smoke and that decision is yours. You will never be successful if you let others pressure you into quitting.
Get inspired and know that you have a wonderful future ahead of you, with tons of energy, health and freedom. Thats a smart mindset to quit smoking with.
