Build a Commitment Kit to Help You Stop Smoking
Consciously choosing to curb an addiction is no easy feat, but building your own commitment kit can help!
If you’ve decided that this is the year you’re finally done with smoking, congratulations! Even just coming to that conclusion is a big step, as consciously choosing to curb an addiction is no easy feat.
During this journey, it’s important to reach for support — specifically the kind of support that’s designed to ease your cravings. A smoking cessation product like the NicoDerm CQ Patch (which helps you beat the urge to smoke throughout the day by delivering therapeutic nicotine for up to 24 hours) can increase your success rate by 50 to 70 percent. And if you need a little more support, consider building yourself a commitment kit.
What Is a Commitment Kit?
A commitment kit is full of items that inspire you to stay smoke-free. The kit can be as big or as small as you would like, and can be kept anywhere – from a small box on your dresser to a bag in the glove compartment of your car — as long as it’s accessible.
What Should Go in the Kit?
Items in the kit can include photographs of your family, a journal, travel plans for a celebratory trip, rewards for weekly milestones, pictures of your pets, health statistics on smoking, a calendar to follow daily progress . . . and anything else that you feel will keep you engaged in your goals.
How Can a Commitment Kit Help?
It can be hard to power through when a craving hits, but having your commitment kit nearby is a great way to keep your eye on the prize. While some items in the commitment kit should act as reminders as to why you have decided to stop smoking (maybe it’s your young child, or a close family member who encouraged you to stop), other objects should represent some sort of immediate reward system, as research has shown, receiving an immediate reward can keep us motivated.
What kind of reward will you give yourself the first day you successfully smoke less? What will you give yourself for going a whole week with one cigarette a day instead of three? What about after you make it through a successful month?
While using friends and smoking cessation products are great outside support systems, taking time to build a commitment kit is a great way to support yourself!
