Do you ever feel that you really want to quit but at the same time you really want to keep on smoking?
And do you find it difficult to think about the long-term consequences of smoking?
If you said yes, you are not alone.
This technique below can help you think about what your future will be like if you break free from smoking and how it will be if you don’t.
Repeat this exercise until you start finding your smoke-free future more compelling than your smoking future.
This can help you make the final decision to extinguish your last cigarette and never take another puff
Before you do this technique, read through each step so that you know exactly what to do.
1. I want you to imagine that you continue to smoke until the end of your life. In your mind now, travel out into the future to a point near the end of your life
2. notice what your health is like and the quality of your life. Ask yourself: what regrets do I have? What do I wish I’d done differently?
3. Return back to the present moment with your insights.
4. Now, imagine that you quit smoking today, and in your imagination I want you to once again travel out into the future to a point near the end of your life
5. Notice what your health is like and the quality of your life. Ask yourself: What am I most grateful for in my life? What am I glad I did when I was younger?
6. Return back to the present moment with your insights.
7. Now, compare the 2 futures. What will your long-term future be like if you continue smoking? What will it be like if you quit?
8. Compare and contrast these 2 possible futures at least 10 times, until it is a simple decision what future you want to create and what choice you will be making in the present to create it- future- now.