Tips for quitting smoking as a trader?

[Baron]

Ive got a pattern that repeats itself over and over, the second i get stressed about a position i light a dart.

You don't have a cigarette problem. You have a discipline problem.

The reason why you light one up when things get tough is because the buzz makes it easier to deal with uncertainty and stress. In other words, you've conditioned yourself to escape mentally when things get tough, which is the easy route to take. The harder way of course is dealing with those feelings without any chemical help, but that takes discipline to do.

When you come into another stressful situation that takes you to that decision point of lighting up or not, just remember this: You're either going to pay for that choice using discipline, or you're going to pay for that choice using regret, which for a cigarette smoker comes later on in life once they can no longer breathe without an oxygen tank or when they get diagnosed with lung cancer. That's when all of those little choices to light up now get paid for with an outpouring of regret, which means you realize that there's no turning back the clock to correct those choices you made along the way. There's no second chance.

So my advice to you is two-fold. First, don't lie to yourself. In other words, don't be ignorant and think that smoking is helping you with anything, because it's not. All it's doing is masking emotions that you really need to be feeling and dealing with, and it's doing that while slowly fucking up your health at the same time.

Second, write down on a piece of paper that you're never going to smoke again, and then below that, write the reasons why. It's very important that you write the reasons why you want to quit that habit. And then sign that piece of paper just like it's a contract with yourself, and put it on your desk in plain sight. By holding yourself accountable like this, you will find that the discipline to say no comes easier than before. And once you get that under control, you'll feel empowered to keep moving in a positive path to improve some other areas in your life that need to be addressed.

Good luck and congrats on your first day of never smoking again.

 

[Max E.]

You don't have a cigarette problem. You have a discipline problem.

The reason why you light one up when things get tough is because the buzz makes it easier to deal with uncertainty and stress. In other words, you've conditioned yourself to escape mentally when things get tough, which is the easy route to take. The harder way of course is dealing with those feelings without any chemical help, but that takes discipline to do.

When you come into another stressful situation that takes you to that decision point of lighting up or not, just remember this: You're either going to pay for that choice using discipline, or you're going to pay for that choice using regret, which for a cigarette smoker comes later on in life once they can no longer breathe without an oxygen tank or when they get diagnosed with lung cancer. That's when all of those little choices to light up now get paid for with an outpouring of regret, which means you realize that there's no turning back the clock to correct those choices you made along the way. There's no second chance.

So my advice to you is two-fold. First, don't lie to yourself. In other words, don't be ignorant and think that smoking is helping you with anything, because it's not. All it's doing is masking emotions that you really need to be feeling and dealing with, and it's doing that while slowly fucking up your health at the same time.

Second, write down on a piece of paper that you're never going to smoke again, and then below that, write the reasons why. It's very important that you write the reasons why you want to quit that habit. And then sign that piece of paper just like it's a contract with yourself, and put it on your desk in plain sight. By holding yourself accountable like this, you will find that the discipline to say no comes easier than before. And once you get that under control, you'll feel empowered to keep moving in a positive path to improve some other areas in your life that need to be addressed.

Good luck and congrats on your first day of never smoking again.

Wow great post, its ironic, this might be the most helpful post ive found on ET, lol, I will try to look at it from your perspective, this was fantastic, thx man.

 

[CaptainObvious]

Wow great post, its ironic, this might be the most helpful post ive found on ET, lol, I will try to look at it from your perspective, this was fantastic, thx man.

Oh, so Baron, Mr. Psychoanalysis comes in and now my toothpick isn't good enough? Take his suggestion, it's a good one.

 

[Baron]

Oh, so Baron, Mr. Psychoanalysis comes in and now my toothpick isn't good enough? Take his suggestion, it's a good one.

Hey, I never said he couldn't use the toothpick method. Now that I think about it, maybe the personal contract in addition to a toothpick could be the magic combo.

 

[Max E.]

Oh, so Baron, Mr. Psychoanalysis comes in and now my toothpick isn't good enough? Take his suggestion, it's a good one.

hahahahaha

 

[CaptainObvious]

Hey, I never said he couldn't use the toothpick method. Now that I think about it, maybe the personal contract in addition to a toothpick could be the magic combo.

And a good self smack in the face as was suggested and he has the trifecta to stop smoking. We should market this technique.

 

[Max E.]

You're either going to pay for that choice using discipline, or you're going to pay for that choice using regret, which for a cigarette smoker comes later on in life once they can no longer breathe without an oxygen tank or when they get diagnosed with lung cancer. That's when all of those little choices to light up now get paid for with an outpouring of regret, which means you realize that there's no turning back the clock to correct those choices you made along the way. There's no second chance.

.

I love this quote so much, im literally drilling it in my head.

My old man is dying from "emphezima".... so it obviously applies...

 

[Slartibartfast]

I'd like to say it was all discipline and willpower with me but I was crap. Living with a smoker did not help of course.

It was a couple of gasping encounters with early-onset emphysema that gave my subconscious a good solid scare. Garbage (but tasted good) StarLite cigs from Chile saved my life by killing me a little too fast.

Quitting was actually pretty easy after that.

 

[vanzandt]

Wow great post, its ironic, this might be the most helpful post ive found on ET, lol, I will try to look at it from your perspective, this was fantastic, thx man.

As I was reading his post, I was thinking the exact same thing.... that this was one of the best posts I've read on ET. Bookmark it Max and come back. You'll need to lol.

And Baron... you've done very very well for yourself with ET here... and a myriad of other things I'm sure.... but ya know what.... I've got a very strong feeling... that your son is gonna put you to shame.
And ain't that what its really all about? No way he can't with a dad that has insights like you. Some things I just know (feel).
Promise.
And please, no "likes" wanted here. This one's from the heart.
(Max... you can... just to piss RRY off )

 

[RRY16]

As I was reading his post, I was thinking the exact same thing.... that this was one of the best posts I've read on ET. Bookmark it Max and come back. You'll need to lol.

And Baron... you've done very very well for yourself with ET here... and a myriad of other things I'm sure.... but ya know what.... I've got a very strong feeling... that your son is gonna put you to shame.
And ain't that what its really all about? No way he can't with a dad that has insights like you. Some things I just know (feel).
Promise.
And please, no "likes" wanted here. This one's from the heart.
(Max... you can... just to piss RRY off )

So he solved the Cig problem, next one on the list is booze then sniff and then fat chicks.