As an ex-pot-smoker, it took me several months to finally get my act together and unearth some powerful techniques to aid in the quitting process. Most believe that willpower alone is all you need to stop smoking cigarettes or to rid your addiction.

Although will power sounds like a nice thing to have, what exactly is it? Is it an unseen force that we can all call upon on demand? How come some people can summon more of it than others?

I believe will power isn’t an unseen force or mystical power, in fact I believe that willpower is the same as creating a decision. You make countless decisions on a daily basis, some decisions that you make are larger than others. For example, it doesn’t really matter that much if you put your hair in a bun today or whether you leave it loose.

However what about the decision to go to work today or not? Now this has a larger impact on your entire day. You never know – it might be that you get caught taking a day off work and the consequence is that you get fired! That one decision to have a day off then rippled through your life causing various different effects.

Similar with making a decision to give up weed, you have a ripple effect. By not smoking today, you will experience an effect or outcome because of it – which might be as bad as an argument or as good as some positive praise from family and friends.

The first step I took to quit my pot addiction was to make the decision! This is critically important. Most people make a half hearted decision to quit smoking weed and then relapse soon after. It is this half heartedness that really does the devastating damage because there is resistance to doing it.

It’s like saying …

• I want to quit smoking pot, but I like the feelings it gives me.
• I want a new job, but I don’t think I’ll get a new one.
• I want more money, but I don’t deserve it because I don’t do anything!

If you attack quitting smoking weed with resistance then you will fail and relapse. You’ll just a quickly be able to justify why you can smoke and why you should because that firm decision was not behind you.

My advise would be to make the decision and instead of looking for excuses and reasons as to why you cannot quit. Make a list of all the reasons why you can give up, why you should give up and why you want to give up.

There are effective treatments and supplements that you can take to control the urge to smoke marijuana, however not everyone can afford to go to a rehab clinic or fork out hundreds of dollars for craving supplements that may or may not work.

This is where Emotional Freedom Technique (or EFT) comes into place. It is free, quick, easy and very effective at stopping cravings of all kinds including craving to smoke marijuana joints.

So what is EFT?

EFT is in simple terms, a method to break habits. By applying pressure on certain areas of your body whilst thinking about your craving you can reverse this craving for whatever it is you do not want. The technique is also used to send positive affirmations to your subconscious mind. The technique looks very strange but it is very simple to do and very effective. I would recommend everyone try this technique as it is so simple to achieve results.

What you will be doing is tapping with our fingertips on certain key points of the body. Just before tapping and during tapping you should concentrate on your craving. For example, if you wanted to smoke a joint, you would think about smoking a joint and imagine yourself already smoking a joint.

It’s very simple stuff and can be performed by anyone. Results are instant and the whole process should not take you more than 3 minutes to complete.

For your complete guide on EFT please visit CannabisSmoker.com’s EFT Quitting Guide.

First we make our habits, then our habits make us.

Charles C. Noble

What do YOU think is the first thing you should do before giving up smoking weed?

I get asked this question a lot and I appreciate it can appear daunting with all of the different methods and information out there on the internet. When I directly answer this question I always feel that my answer isn’t what that person wants to hear.

You see I respond and tell them that this first stage to giving up smoking is making a decision. Sound’s simple enough? Right? Well you would think so. But a lot of people DON’T actually make that decision, they decide they want to give up smoking for whatever reason but they DON’T actually want to be free from smoking forever. They say to themselves “I want to smoke again” or “I’ll give up for a little bit now, and then smoke again in a few months” and even “I don’t really want to stop because I enjoy it, but I want to stop because I don’t have much money at the moment”.

People who use these EXCUSES will not give up.

They have already condemned themselves to failure before they have even started. You see if you are not 100% definite about giving up, then it simply will not happen. You have to want it more than anything for it to happen for you. If you are half hearted about it, or if you are undecided whether or not you truly want to give up then it simply will not happen for you.

There is science behind this madness, and what I am bringing this conversation towards is self-talk. What you say to yourself in your own mind. You see, everyone talks to themselves. But it is what we are saying to ourselves over and over and over and over again that is causing us to keep doing what we are doing.

If you want to quit smoking - you will, if you don’t want to quit - you won’t.

Gary Evans

Have you ever wondered why you keep relapsing?

• Why you are unable to give up smoking instantly?
• What exactly is creating the cravings and withdrawal symptoms?
• How come EVERYONE doesn’t get the same symptoms that you do?
• Why do non-smokers not become addicted to smoking when they inhale your second hand smoke?

Here are some interesting questions you should consider to ask yourself. I am not about to tell you what you should or shouldn’t be doing. That is your decision and your choice. No one can help you if you don’t want help. Fact is, I used to be a weed smoker and since I have given it up, life has been great!

You see the majority of people who try and give up end up failing because they are giving up using willpower. Well, lets break that down a bit. Willpower is deciding to do something against what you desire.

In fact that is so important, I am going to write it again … willpower is deciding to do something against what you desire.

When you try and do something against what you truly desire you are creating more stress for yourself because you feel like you are missing out on something. Is stress what you need in your life?? NO!

Stress is a trigger to smoke!! So, you give up, create more stress for yourself and wonder why you couldn’t resist the cravings???? It’s simple when you break it down.

What is the best way to give up smoking? Get rid of cravings. Focus upon that. If you have no cravings, you will have no problems.