Ten reasons I'm going to quit smoking — and how I plan to do it

I've been a smoker for 16 years now, and I'm totally done with it. I want to quit. Lately it's been bothering me more and more how I'm a slave to my addiction. The Dutch word for addiction literally translates as "enslavement", and it couldn't be more appropriate.

I've quit it before, sometimes successfully for over 6 months and other times I didn't even last a day. This time I decided to get some help, and went to a "Quit Smoking coach". Secretly I hoped for some kind of miracle cure, but honestly I think I already knew there was no such thing. One can dream, though.

Instead of prescribing me some kind of medication we just had a good conversation, and I left with a bunch of good tips. One of them was to make a list of reasons I want to quit and look at it every time I feel the need to light one up. Since I spend hours on Steemit each day I figured might as well write the list here.

Benefits of me not smoking (in no particular order)

1. I'll smell better
2. No more worries over when and where I can smoke
3. Lower chance of getting cancer, cardiovascular problems and other horrible diseases
4. I'll save about €40 every week (that's over €2000 a year!)
5. Nicer breath
6. No more standing in the cold and/or rain by myself while everyone else is warm and dry inside
7. My father will be quite proud of me
8. My teeth will start looking whiter
9. The freedom to go wherever I want without having to figure out if and where I have to buy a new pack
10. Better sense of taste and smell

There's probably a lot more benefits (let me know!) but this list will suffice for now.

The plan

Here's what I'm going to do to successfully quit:

• I'm not going to quit right now. I know from past experiences that there will come a point at which I say "This is it. NOW I quit". That moment will come as a result of the following actions.
• Make a list of reasons to quit and read it at least twice a day. Preferably out loud.
• Look for good apps that will help me stay motivated.
• Make a detailed planning of both the positive and negative effects of quitting I will experience in the first few hours, days, weeks, months. This overview will be the basis of that.
• Going through my calendar and note all the events (parties, holidays, etc) that have an increased chance of luring me into smoking again. Knowing beforehand that it's going to be a tough moment is already half the battle.
• Make a list of potential scenarios that might make me want to start smoking (death or disease of a loved one, a break-up, getting fired). I don't expect any of these to happen, but I guess nobody does. Again, being prepared helps.
• Buy nicotine gum for the hard moments. Maybe I won't use them, but at least having them on me is a reassurance. I expect my morning commute to be the toughest part of the first few days, so I'll definitely keep a pack in my car.

Now that I've written this post I can cross "making a list of reasons" off my list. Next up: finding a good app. Any tips?