Most smokers at some time announce “I’ve stopped smoking!” They then wait for the world around them to stop bouncing up and down in disbelieve and then, less than a day later, they carry on with their smoking as if nothing had happened. Let’s find out if you are really stopping smoking or just fooling yourself…

Why are you giving up smoking?

This is a very important question and one which you should consider quite seriously. We all hear the obvious reasons, and they are generally pretty much the same no matter who uses them, but what is the real reason? Many smokers are quite insecure people, let’s face it one reason many people smoke is through low self-esteem, and every now and then they may decide it is time to receive some attention from their friends and colleagues. One way to do this is by making a bold statement such as “I’ve quit smoking” or “I’m giving up smoking” and then wait to bask in the praise that they believe such a statement will bring. However well intentioned the statement may be on the surface, deep down it is a call for help. The insecure smoker is really saying, “I need my self-esteem boosting please”, and wants their friends to supply much needed praise and support. And so, for a few hours or days the smoker resists all temptation to smoke, at least in front of others, while everyone around them tells them how great they are and how good they are doing. This makes the smoker feel good for a short period of time and then it is back to the low self-esteem again; at least until the next time.

The problem with this scenario, however common it may be, is that it isn’t a real attempt to stop smoking at all. And let’s be honest, most of us can spot this type of false start a mile off. To seriously want to stop smoking you need to be totally honest about your reasons for wanting to quit. You need to avoid the melodrama of the previous scenario and make a committed effort to understand your own reasons for smoking and your reasons why you want to stop.

A serious attempt or a fool’s errand?

The smokers who are serious about giving up smoking usually do it without a big melodramatic attention seeking announcement. They firmly decide that enough is enough and go about obtaining whatever help and advice they need to make things happen. These serious stopping smoking people will know why they want to stop and will have made a personal commitment to doing so. In this way they are highly inspired to succeed with their plan. They are doing it for themselves and don’t need a false fanfare to go with it.

Of course, not every serious attempt at stopping smoking succeeds but this is often due to unforeseen external factors rather than lack of intent by the smoker. So, if you want to make a determined effort to stop smoking then I suggest you do it quietly and without any big announcements. In this way you will not be under any additional pressure to live up to your empty boasts and the promises made to friends. In this way, even if your attempt fails, you will avoid finding yourself on a fool’s errand.

Many people hear about people stopping smoking using stop smoking hypnotherapy and they can’t understand how that is possible. It seems foreign to them, almost other worldly. Because people go to see a hypnotist as a smoker and then leave being a non smoker. Well it does seem like magic to me when you just read the outline of what happens. But don’t be mislead, because there is no magic that takes place here, just training on how to use your mind correctly.

When you start to understand that we are capable of changing very quickly and we do it all the time it starts to seem less mystical. And starts to make sense that we can change that quickly with the help of hypnosis to quit smoking. Think about this…when you go to work you take on the identity of the worker. You do all the things that’s expected of you as a worker. If you are a laborer, part of a team of people doing work, following orders from management, you do whatever it is that is necessary to fit into your job description. You become a follower and your identity is that of a follower of orders, and instructions in that situation.

Now when work is over you go home and let’s say your home life is that of a family man or woman. When you come home you are in charge. Perhaps you’re in charge of certain things at home, telling the kids to clean out their waste baskets and to bring them down to the garbage cans so that you or one of them can take them out for sanitation pick up. When at home you become the boss. You’re identity changed and all it took was the distance and time it took to go from work to home. Now you wouldn’t call that magic, but that’s really what happened. You changed your identity.

So by using stop smoking hypnotherapy, the hypnotist is able to use an ability that you already have. Of being able to change identities, and slip into different, sometimes opposite roles. And when you take on the role of a non smoker, you have the sense and feeling that this is truly you! You start to act and behave the part of a non smoker. And the more often you do this the quicker you create the real habit of being a non smoker. And I know that it is impossible for you to maintain two opposite habits at the very same time. So when you create the habit of a non smoker, you allow your old unwanted habit of a smoker to lie dormant. And that new behavior of a non smoker becomes the more desirable habit of choice. And choice is your freedom. Freedom from ever having, wanting or needing to smoke cigarettes ever again.

Are you tired of the quitting and smoking cycle and are now ready to quit for good? I invite you to learn how to use hypnosis to quit smoking for free. All the information you need to regain control is in my free ebook, stop smoking hypnotherapy. There are techniques that could help you to use self hypnosis to stop smoking on your own. It’s available at HypnoticState.com.

It’s the same information that was published in the book I co-wrote, Real World Hypnosis, Insider Tips From Leading Hypnotists, that’s for sale on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and other booksellers.

Many state governments have curtained smoking in public areas. Hospitals have demanded that their employees quit smoking, and are sanctioning employees for smoking while working. Smokers brave bad weather and rain, sleet or snow, and smoke away as quickly as possible so that they can go back to their jobs.

In some cities, smoking is as controversial as taking illegal drugs. Since people are aware of stop smoking benefits, a sizable proportion of those addicted are trying to identify ways to stop smoking.

Smoking habits consist of three elements:

1. People smoke for relaxation and pleasure. This makes up about 45% of the smoking habit.

2. People also smoke because they unconsciously associate agreeable environments or behaviors with cigarettes. Then, when people find themselves in these situations, they desire a cigarette. For example, if a person associates watching television with smoking, they will become conditioned to smoke while watching TV. Then, every time that individual watches television, he or she will want a cigarette.. This makes up about 45% of the habit.

3. The final reason people continue to smoke is that they become physically addicted to Nicotine. This element is approximately 10 percent of the smoking habit. When people quit smoking, all of the Nicotine is gone from their bodies after about three days!

Numerous methods are available to assist individuals find ways to stop smoking. One of the most inexpensive ways to stop smoking, covered by most insurance agencies, is the nicotine patch. Easy to apply, each patch is worn for 24 hours and can be concealed beneath one’s clothes. The drawback to these patches, however, is that nicotine replacement patches are not very useful. Because nicotine patches only help treat the physiological addiction, which results in just one-tenth of the habit, only seven percent of smokers will find this method of smoking cessation helpful and effective.

A very similar level of success is experienced by persons who use nicotine gum or lozenges. Less than ten percent of the people who use these strategies will have success with these techniques to stop smoking for at least six months. Furthermore, these items can result in many adverse effects. Nicotine gum or lozenges, can be harmful to a person’s gums and lips, while a significant percentage of people report skin irritation under the patch. Again, these items only deal with the physical dependence, which only comprises about 10 percent of the habit.

Yet another approach is the implementation of psychotherapy and smoking cessation sessions. These programs include behavior modification techniques together with extensive instruction about the adverse effects of smoking. These approaches are three hundred percent as effective as nicotine replacement therapies; nearly one-fourth of smokers will quit for at least six months.

Numerous smokers have utilized laser treatment programs to help stop smoking. This technique is often covered by insurance, even though it is new. Clinical studies held by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), however, indicate that these sessions are no more effective than placebo. (Placebo is the effect that occurs when individuals believe they are taking therapy, but really are not.)

Another of the ways to stop smoking seems to be somewhat more useful than formerly used methods. During one research study, smokers were given shots to help them stop smoking by taking away the ‘buzz’ of the nicotine rush. This technique, in the preliminary phases of testing for usefulness, so far seems to be helpful for fifteen percent of the persons who attempted it.

Hypnotherapy is a different way of helping individuals to stop smoking. Hypnotherapy deals with re-teaching the subconscious mind to automatically employ other activities to create comfort and pleasure, instead of the nicotine dependency. It is also utilized to eliminate or “extinguish” conditioned behaviors such as the connection outlined between smoking and activities mentioned earlier, so the person who smokes loses the urge to smoke when in the environments that previously trigger it.

Male patients appear to have better results with stop smoking hypnosis than female patients do. One positive aspect of self hypnosis stop smoking, however, is that, in comparison to persons utilize nicotine replacement as approaches to stop smoking, there are no adverse side effects.

Another positive aspect of hypnotherapy is that it is effective against the 90% part of the habit that is psychological, as opposed to the other methods that just treat the one-tenth part of the habit that is physical. This is why hypnosis offers a significantly higher treatment success than the aforementioned strategies for smoking cessation. Traditional hypnosis techniques can deliver a 35% success rate, while Ericksonian hypnotherapy can deliver a 50% or greater treatment success.

A newer, revolutionary, and far more useful approach that helps clients to kick a cigarette habit is Neuro-Linguistic Programming, or NLP. This method is far more effective than established styles of quit smoking hypnosis since it does not rely on post-hypnotic suggestions at all. Most people, such as those who tend to be analytical in nature, resist post-hypnotic suggestions. Professionals who use NLP coach the client’s unconscious mind to focus on the same exact cognitive processes that trigger the psychological dependence on cigarettes, to treat it!

A good NLP smoking cessation approach organized by a certified NLP professional can result in a positive outcome rate of up to 70% or greater.

Summary: Most smoking cessation methods attempt to use nicotine replacement therapies as ways to stop smoking. Alternative programs, including smoking cessation and counseling courses, try to help the mind discover ways to stop smoking.

Even though hypnosis works more effectively than other programs, particularly with male patients, it is not rated as the most helpful way to stop smoking. NLP, which treats the mental aspects of the smoking addiction, actually helps individuals to change their mindset to help them stop most successfully.

Because 90% of an individual’s addiction to smoking is psychological, these strategies are much more effective than simply giving the person nicotine and dealing with the one-tenth part of the addiction that is physical.

Conclusion: A number of smoking cessation courses, including nicotine replacement treatments and psychotherapy can be found. These techniques often are often less than 20 percent successful. In contrast, hypnotherapy offers a consideratbly greater probability of success. NLP is the most successful of all in helping clients to effectively combat the mental component of their dependency and experience significantly more success in their goal of becoming smoke-free.