Create an ‘Accountability Journal’ to Kick Your Smoking Habit for Good
If you’re ready to make 2019 the year you finally take those first big steps towards quitting cigarettes, an accountability journal is a creative way to help you stick to that New Year’s Eve goal.
What Is an Accountability Journal?
Many experts agree that writing down your goals is more powerful than simply deciding to do them in your head. In fact, a recent study done by Dominican University in California found that 76 percent of participants who wrote down their goals either achieved them or were halfway toward achieving them by the time the study concluded.
An accountability journal is a creative, empowering way of getting your smoke-free goals on paper so you can achieve them once and for all.
How to Create Your Accountability Journal
First, find a notebook that inspires you. Go to your neighborhood bookstore or craft shop and find something that feels good in your hands. Don’t worry — you’ll know it when you see it!
Once you’ve found the journal you want to use, open it to the first page and use positive language to write your goal. One example: “I will reduce the number of cigarettes from 10 to 5 in the next 3 months.”
Turn to the next page and list all of the people in your life who you’re quitting for — don’t forget to include yourself!
On the next page, list all the ways your life will improve once you’re finally smoke-free.
Finally, create an action plan, which is a page where you list all the people and resources that can help you achieve your goal. One big resource for quitting cigarettes are smoking cessation products; products that release nicotine into your system and help you resist the urge to smoke. According to the Mayo Clinic, only about 5 percent of people who try to stop smoking without a smoking cessation product succeed, while 30 percent of people who do use one find success.
If you’re considering a smoking cessation product, why not try the NicodermCQ patch? Once applied to your skin, the Nicoderm patch delivers therapeutic nicotine throughout the day so you can relieve the urge to smoke. When used with behavioral support, it can increase your chances of success.
Now that you have your accountability journal all set up, use the remaining pages as a daily diary to track your progress. These pages are a place to be really honest with yourself; track your good days and your bad days, remind yourself why you’re quitting, and record your emotional journey.
Use your journal to help strengthen you on days when you stumble and to fill you with pride as you look back and realize just how far you’ve come!
