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Getting Started - An Introduction

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Before you can really get going with your quit-smoking campaign, aside from marking a date on your calendar to quit, the next most important step is to find a method to stop your madness. There are a number of routes you can go, and obviously, different strokes for different folks.

In the Getting Started section, we'll discuss the different methods you might try to get your quit on. Certainly, the sooner the better, but in our "Pick a Date" section, we also discuss why you need to give yourself a little time to adjust. I would not recommend waking up one morning and simply deciding that, "Today's the Day," because more often than not, without some preplanning, "Today" will be the day you quit, at least until tomorrow.

Keep in mind that, inasmuch as this Beginner's Guide is concerned, I'm not going to sugarcoat it; I'm not going to consistently remind you that quitting smoking is "the greatest gift you can give yourself," because, for a lot of people who are going to be awfully cranky, sleepy, angry, and short-fused for the first few days or weeks, the last thing we want to hear is some self-help platitude that just makes you want to wring someone's neck. Certainly, for some people, platitudes work. But, I plan on being brutally honest - it may be a great gift for yourself, but the day you quit is not a "Great!" day. It's going to be a hard one, a difficult one, and for a few weeks at least, you're probably not going to think it's worth it, and you're probably going to bargain with yourself a lot, by, for instance, telling yourself if you go an entire day without smoking, you can treat yourself to one cigarette before bed.

Don't do that. It doesn't work. One cigarette will lead to two, and before you know it, you're smoking again.

In the meantime, try not to yell at anyone.

Next Page: Pick a Date, Already!

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