My Journey | The Path To Being Cigarette Free
Quitting smoking always seems like a good idea. I have been wanting to quit smoking. Tonight, I stubbed out a cigarette and said to myself “this is enough”. 30 seconds later I said to myself “smoke another one”. I’m writing this in my garage. I went through with wiring it for ethernet (it is not a connected garage) for the sole purpose of being able to smoke and work. (living the dream – and part of me does feel that way – and that’s sad.)
There is something human about pleasing yourself with the easy things. The easy things are usually the ones that kill you. Smoking is one of those things. I have kids and things I want to do in life. Why am I paying to cut that short?
Right now I am taking money out of my pocket to kill myself. I am trading my future for a 3 minute cigarette break I may or may not even enjoy that much. The grass is always greener. The moment I quit, I somehow remember every cigarette being enjoyable.
Quitting Smoking
The Game Plan:
Goals should have a process. My goal is to quit smoking. I currently smoke 1 pack a day (sometimes more). It is disgusting and time wasting. (it is a compounded time waster – the time you waste smoking – the time you lose from health issues.)
Today is October 15th, 2017. My goal is to be tobacco free by December 15th, 2017.
Today – October 15th, 2017: I will make a check mark on a piece of paper for each cigarette I smoke.
October 15th – October 30th: I will continue to make a check mark for each cigarette I smoke.
October 31st – I will celebrate Halloween by purchasing an e-Cig and 18mg Nicotine e-juice. I will use this to replace smoke breaks. My goal will be to cut smoke breaks in half at work. (I should have a tally of this by now)
November 1st – November 15th: I will reduce my cigarette consumption by half by the end of this period.
Nov 16th – November 30th: I will have reduced my e-juice nicotine level by half. I will have reduced smoke breaks by half by the end of this period.
December 1st – December 15th: By the end of this period I will have quit smoking tobacco. I will have reduced my nicotine level to the lowest level.
Dec 1st – 7th: One day this week I will smoke only 5 cigarettes.
Dec 8th: I will smoke 3 cigarettes this day.
Dec. 9th: I will smoke less than 7 Cigarettes today and rely on my e-Cig more.
Dec. 10th: I will smoke less than 6 Cigarettes today.
Dec. 11th: I will smoke 5 cigarettes today. (trial run for the real deal)
Dec 12th: I will smoke as many cigarettes as I can
Dec 13th: I will smoke less than 4 cigarettes today.
Dec. 14th: I will smoke less than 3 cigarettes today. I will also throw away all smoking materials.
Dec. 15th: Today is the day. I will use the e-Cig only and work on reducing my nicotine level over time.
This IS Personal.
My Grandfather (who was like a father to me) died of smoking-related cancer. He was a brilliant, loving man. It was a shame. I don’t want that for me or for my family. I will do this. I can do it now, or later. You will never know when you cross the line of it “being too late”.
This is a personal page. For my own motivation. If you stumble on it. Please feel free to shoot me an email using the contact page about your journey.
I will keep this page updated and optimize this process as needed, while keeping the end date firm.