Is Cold Turkey the most effective method to stop smoking? What is the meaning of cold turkey anyway? We're going to look at that and a few other things as well pertaining to your addiction to nicotine.
Do you need to stop smoking like yesterday? Look, now that you know It's time to finally stop smoking, let me ask you seriously, what exactly are you waiting for anyway? I'll bet it's safe to say that it's been "time" to stop for a while now? Wouldn't you agree? And yet somehow you still find yourself walking into 7-11 and as you open the door and hear the 'a customer just came in' chime say to your self, "OK, last pack..."
But then tomorrow comes or 48 hours pass and guess what? You're arguing with yourself again. How many mornings do you need to wake up with a tight chest and a cough? Are you getting a full night's sleep or do you find yourself waking up in the middle of the night to pee and then since you're up, might as well have a smoke before going to back to bed.
Or better yet, do you simply roll over at 3:30 AM and light one up? You're literally so addicted you have to interrupt a full night's sleep...
Wow.
So when you've finally gotten over it... when you finally click... as if someone turned on a light switch for you... you decide for yourself and actually finally realize "I have to knock this crap off..." What do you do? Now what?
Let's start by examining the value of mild suffering now vs major suffering later while also looking at earning the right to sit in the non-smoking section. The most effective and powerful way to have at it is with a cold turkey smack down of harsh reality and tough love...
Quick Detour First
Let's take a little sidebar while I pitch my book using a little wisdom from Grant Cardone. Grant has been helping sales people elevate their game and has quite literally revolutionized how business is transacted across multiple verticals of business. "Selling" as Grant teaches in his most recent book Sell or Be Sold, "is a prerequisite for life." Right now, I need to not just sell you on not smoking, but you too, must sell yourself on it. You will also need to go back and re-close yourself multiple times. One of the first things I learned from Grant was an acronym called "A3." Or "A-cubed." This stands for Attitude, Approach and Action.
A3 is quite literally the formula for success. If one of these elements is out of sync, the whole thing falls apart. You can't achieve success with a bad attitude. If you approach success with the wrong approach, success is doomed. If you don't take the appropriate levels of action necessary to achieve success, you can forget about it happening.
Success for you right now means getting in the non-smoking section. You will need to have the right attitude, approach and action to succeed here. My book will help you attain all 3 and empower you to finally stop.
Question for the audience:
What is the value of suffering now vs later and earning it with a cold turkey smack of harsh reality and tough love?
Somewhere in my life I heard the phrase, anything worth having must be earned. Frankly, I don't specifically know or remember where I heard that, but I think Dr. Laura had something to do with it. Either way, it's a powerful concept, wouldn't you agree?
Look here's the deal. How did you learn to walk and ride a bike? You had to fall down. A lot. Falling down is painful, pain is an indicator. Pain typically results in learning and growth. Assuming you use it.
So far, you haven't used it. You've medicated it with cigarettes. Now you are going to decide to stop and that too, like learning to walk or ride a bike will be painful.
You will need to earn being a non-smoker. You have this amazing opportunity that people who never smoked have. You get to learn how to handle your s#!7 without cigarettes. This will make you stronger because people who never smoked, turn to ice-cream and chocolate, where you turned to cigarettes and now, will be able to handle it free and clear.
One of my personal chief motivators to stop smoking was I eventually came to loathe dependency on a foreign substance to "get by."
NOTE: If you personally had any denial or thoughts like "well that ain't me" then stop reading this hub right now and read this one: The Five Stages of Grief In The Non-Smoking Section then come back here and pick this one back up.
Picking up here, the media and pharmaceutical companies want you to believe that you can't do it alone. The want you to believe that you need to chew nicotine laced gum, wear a patch, take a pill or smoke nicotine infused water vapor in order to "quit" smoking.
Pharmaceutical companies are nick named "Big Pharma." What other multinational conglomerate group of companies also start with "Big?"
Is there any difference between Big Tobacco and Big Pharma? Not really. This is really a perfect example of frying pan to fire type of marketing, because here's the reality at the end of the day; you will eventually either chew Nicorette for the rest of your life (think crutch) or you eventually will have to put down your crutch and learn to walk again.
Personally, I have tremendous pride knowing that I suffered through all fun stuff that comes from nicotine withdrawal and come out much stronger on the other side.
It is an opportunity to conquer addiction, your self, and take charge of your emotional well being without having to rely on a chemical substance, like nicotine, to function in the world.
The Origin of Cold Turkey
By way of the good ol' Wikipedia, the term "Cold Turkey" has multiple origins.
"Cold turkey" describes the actions of a person who abruptly gives up a habit or addiction rather than gradually easing the process through gradual reduction or by using replacement medication. (IMO, the easy way out, not that there's anything wrong with that... except you didn't pay any dues and there by won't fully respect it)
There are several explanations of the phrase's origin:
- A narrowing of the meaning "suddenly or without preparation," from cold turkey being a dish that requires little preparation; originally used for heroin addicts.
- From the American phrase talk turkey meaning "to speak bluntly with little preparation".
- Some believe the derivation is from the comparison of a cold turkey carcass and the state of a withdrawing addict — most notably, the cold sweats and goose bumps.
- Reference to the periods after Christmas and Thanksgiving holidays where cold (leftover) turkey was likely to be eaten, coinciding with the end of those holidays' characteristically high alcohol consumption.
All you really need to stop smoking is A-cubed with a side of moment to moment commitment to not smoke right now.
