Everyone is encouraging you to quit smoking for good. You've probably thought over the problem and wondered if you could do it, but shoved the thought aside in the end. You're not ready, you think. Maybe you're thinking it's too late for you, that you're already hooked.

Maybe you're scared that you'll fail, so you're telling yourself there's no point in trying. Those thoughts are already a clue that it's time to stop smoking now, if only to prove to yourself that you really are that strong and can kick the habit.

Make no mistake: you will have to be strong to quit smoking. Stopping a habit is difficult, and one that comes with cravings is even harder to kick. But if so many people have stopped smoking for good, there really isn't any reason to think you can't stop smoking too. In fact, here is plenty of support, help for ways to stop smoking, as well as quit smoking aids available to make quitting easier than ever.

Before you decide to quit, sit down and write a list of all the reasons to stop smoking now. Think of everything you can: your health, financial aspects, odor and smells, house damage, risks for your children or friends. No reason is too small. Now, write down all the reasons you should continue to smoke. The lists probably don't even come close to evening out, do they?

The list of reasons to quit smoking should be something you carry everywhere for a while. The point is to remind yourself why you should stop smoking and have that list on hand to read each time you smoke.

You're eventually going to turn your internal dialogue messages into ones that discourage you from continuing to smoke, which is great.

Pick a quit date. Make sure it's a date well in the future and one that isn't going to have other stressors going on at that time. Your quit date will be the day you stop smoking for good.

Plan for it, prepare yourself for it and tell everyone about it. Quitting smoking starts a long, long time before you actually have your last cigarette.

Withdrawal symptoms are the worst part about trying to quit smoking. When you try to quit smoking for good, you might mentally think that you need the nicotine contained in the cigarettes.

Oftentimes, however, you can trick your brain into forgetting about those craving by drinking a glass of water or doing something else that will take your mind off it.

Your doctor can give you some medical advice on ways to quit smoking, too. You can choose one or more aids because it's proven that quitting cold turkey doesn't have successful results. Many people use patches, hypnotism, laser treatment, and other ways to quit smoking for good.

There really is no reason to be a martyr and put yourself through the hardest times possible. Accept help from your doctor, listen to advice about coping with cravings and make the process easier.

Compelling Reasons to Quit Smoking for Good

If you were looking for a wake-up call to get you to quit smoking for good, you've found it. I have compiled a list of the cold hard facts regarding smoking as well as the impact it will have on your life if you don't break free from the habit.

Here are some sobering statistics to start things off:

• Worldwide, tobacco use causes more than 5 million deaths per year.
• Current trends show that tobacco use will cause more than 8 million deaths annually by 2030.
• Cigarette smoking is the leading preventable cause of death in the United States.
• In the United States, cigarette smoking is responsible for about one in five deaths annually, or about 438,000 deaths per year.

There is no doubt smoking is a killer. On average, smokers die 13 to 14 years earlier than nonsmokers! That translates to 12 to 14 minutes taken from your life with each cigarette!

Each and every one of those cigarettes you smoke is bringing you closer and closer to an early grave.

Some other Reasons to Quit Smoking for Good:

• Food doesn't taste as good to smokers. When a smoker's nasal cavity is under the effects of the chemical products found within cigarettes their ability to savor various tastes/aromas is lessened.
• If you smoke, your body will require more sleep than a non-smoker. Additionally, smokers don't sleep as well as non-smokers
• Smokers find themselves sick more often than non-smokers. The average smoker misses 7 1/2 work days a year compared to 4 1/2 for the non-smoker
• Smoking makes people more irritable and argumentative, in part due to subconscious knowledge of the above mentioned points.
• A correlation has been found between smoking and brain damage/premature senility

This is just touching the tip of the ice-berg. There are plenty more reasons to quit the habit once and for all. We may know smoking is not healthy, but it helps to stop and look at these facts to wake us up to the reality of what we are doing to ourselves.

Hopefully the above has opened your eyes some and given you additional insight into how smoking is affecting your life. It is never to late to make a change...to quit smoking for good.

Written by: Mike Selvon & Allen Iser