You can learn a lot from your past quit attempts. Don't think of them as failures. Think of them as valuable lessons that can help you in this quit attempt. What was helpful when you quit? What was hard for you? What will you do differently this time? Use this information to increase your chance of being successful long-term. Write down your answers to the questions below.
- What was helpful?
- What was not helpful?
- Why did I start again?
Quotes from Former Smokers*
"What I learned from my last quit was that I had to keep my hands and mouth busy. I got a bunch of plastic straws and toothpicks and used them to chew on. This helped a lot."
"What I learned from several quits was that every time I drank alcohol, I got triggered to smoke. This time around, I didn't go out drinking for the first few months of my quit. Now I've been smoke free for 6 months."
"What I learned is that talking to people really helped a lot. Each time I was about to slip and smoke, I called a Helpline."
"What I learned was that using the nicotine patch with nicotine lozenges gave me total control over my cravings. I've been smoke free over a year!"
*Quotes obtained from QuitLine participants.
This information has been approved by Amy Lukowski, PsyD (August 2015).
