Why is quitting smoking so hard?

Many smokers continue to smoke long after the negative effects of smoking begin to outweigh the so-called “positive” effects. The brief relief that comes from smoking a cigarette is overshadowed by the fatigue, coughing, shortness of breath, and various other issues caused or exacerbated by smoking. A lot of people in this position have thought about quitting, some have tried, and yet, they find themselves lighting up day after day.

It is very common for smokers to rationalize their smoking by planning to quit “at some point,” but that perfect moment never seems to come. Some smokers convince themselves that they simply cannot quit, even if they want to: “Quitting is too difficult and I just don’t have enough willpower.”

Habit vs. Addiction

One of the biggest reasons that people struggle or fail to quit smoking is that we think of smoking as a “habit,” rather than an addiction. Nicotine is known to be one of the most addictive substances on the planet. A habit, such as biting one’s fingernails, is quite different. For example, while it may be tough to break the habit, one does not experience a craving to bite their fingernails if they haven’t done it in a few hours. They do not go through withdrawals if they fail to bite their nails.

Biting your fingernails might not be the most healthy or attractive practice, but it is certainly not known to cause cancer. If it were, it would most likely be a no-brainer for most people to quit without giving it a second thought. What makes smoking different? While there may be some exceptions for individuals struggling with a compulsive behavior, for the vast majority of people fingernail biting is not an addiction. Nicotine leads us to feel as though we need to keep smoking despite the well-known and obvious consequences.

Smokers are addicted to nicotine. No matter your age, how long you’ve smoked, how much you smoke, or what kind of person you are, this is something that all smokers have in common: We are all addicted to nicotine!

A Battle for Your Conscience

Recall those old cartoons where a character is tormented by a little angel on one shoulder and little devil on the other, each whispering into his or her ear. While this is a bit cliché, it is a useful tool for thinking about our relationship with addiction as smokers. The little devil is the voice of addiction, always telling you that you need to smoke. The angel is your higher self, which knows the truth: smoking has never actually solved any of your problems and it never will! A chemical reaction is giving you a boost of euphoria, which is then followed by a crash! Nicotine is incredibly fast acting and short-lived. When you smoke a cigarette, you start to go into withdrawal almost immediately, and the craving for the next cigarette begins. The withdrawal from the past cigarette tricks your body into thinking you need to smoke again to get back to ‘normal.’ That is the little Devil talking. In fact, the stress you are smoking to alleviate is caused by the crash from withdrawing from the last cigarette!

Why Do Only 3% of Smokers Who Try to Quit on Their Own Actually Succeed?

If you notice you have a cavity, you probably aren’t going to grab a drill from the garage and try to fix it yourself. No! You are going to go to a dentist. And yet, when it comes to quitting smoking many people try to be their own dentist.

There is a multi-billion dollar industry built around keeping smokers trapped in the cycle of buying a product that they are dependent on. Nicotine addiction is extremely powerful. Taking on this battle alone, without the right tools, leads most people to fall right back into the trap, even more discouraged than before. This is why the 3% success rate is so low.

You don’t have to do it alone! In fact, you shouldn’t. Join up with hundreds of millions of former smokers who quit successfully with a proven method, designed by experts. Learn the trick to quit smoking easily, immediately, and painlessly. Get rid of not only the physical addiction, but the psychological grip of nicotine as well. The Easyway method has a 90% success rate, worldwide, and the family of successful non-smokers is growing every day.