What I’ve learned by quitting smoking (so far)
So it has been 11 weeks since I quit smoking. Not too shabby. While it has not been all champagne and roses, I feel that it has gone pretty well. I also learned several things that i feel can be applied to more then just quitting smoking. Several things I learned:
- Smoking is expensive. I always knew it, but never had any sort of tangible evidence. But in 11 weeks, it breaks out like this: I smoked a pack a day. I bought cartoons for about $38.00. A carton lasted on average 10 days. So over the 11 weeks (77 days), I saved (( 7 * $38) + (.7 * $38) = $292.20! And that is just over 11 weeks. That’s around $1300 a year.
- Messing up on is not a reason to give up. The last couple times I tried to quit and failed, I would go cold turkey and when I slipped up, I would just go back to smoking. This time when I messed up, I just got on with it. I would have a cigarette, and not let it ruin what I had accomplished. This, I think is something important to take away since it can apply to alot in life. Instead of getting discouraged by missteps, just keep at it since nothing ever goes perfectly the first time though.
- Boredom is the enemy. Aside from getting angry (which is surprisingly easy when you are going through nicotine withdrawal), being bored made me want to smoke. Idle hands and what not …
- Don’t try to change everything at once. Maybe this works for some people, but changing too many things at once for me just gets a bit overwhelming and makes the whole thing come crashing down.
