Make a decision

[nhlpens]

I can't make a single decision in my life, and stick to it.
Keep telling myself 'Today I will cut back on cigarettes', but it fails everytime.
Can I get some advice please?

[st33med]

Originally Posted by nhlpens

I can't make a single decision in my life, and stick to it.
Keep telling myself 'Today I will cut back on cigarettes', but it fails everytime.
Can I get some advice please?

Telling yourself you are going to do something isn't really enough. Best things to do is see how you can get your mind off of cigarettes. Go to a movie and leave the cigarettes behind at home. Put your cigs in a not readily viewable and accessible place. Do other activities that you are passionate in that you don't wanna be interrupted.

You can make a decision, it's the follow-up that is required to back that decision with action.

[ragtag]

Well you could try my Pillow Method. It'll help you make decisions, but honestly doesn't do much when it comes to sticking to them.

[ginkgo]

Don't say that you cannot make a decision. THAT IS A LIE! You decided to post the above thread. Smoking is not a good example since the tobacco companies have spent top dollars to find the best chemists in the world so they will make smoking so addictive that no one can stop smoking.

They are allowed to put all sorts of poisons in the tobacco since you do not consume the tobacco. Telling yourself that you cannot make a decsion is like a self-fulfilling prophecy. Also if you could not decide to eat, you would be emaciated and need to be put in an institution.

[legendarymidget]

Go to the library. There are lots of books on how to give up smoking. I'm sure one of them could help you

[Alan1986]

You have done a good job without noticing it.
You always are able to make decisions and you always keep to your words. It is just that you are changing the words you are keeping.
You never fail. You always succeed.
You decide that 'Today I will NOT cut back on cigarettes', and you SUCCEED everytime!

[rickrock]

A group? Having the support seems helpful. Telling others your plan? If they know you want to quit and see you smoking you may be a bit embarrassed and feel obligated to quit. Although that one isnt really a good reason, I guess the overall purpose is great.

[ChrisGinsburg]

Ending destructive habits usually comes down to discovering the triggers to your smoking, drinking etc. Failing to make decisions is a larger topic that when you follow it down as deep as it goes, usually leads to fear. Try to focus on your smoking first and when you conquer it, your confidence to make other decisions will also improve. Every time you light up really try to think about the circumstances that triggered you to smoke. To some it's stress, to others it's boredom or an oral fixation. Maybe it's just a time of the day that has become part of your routine. In any case I've noticed that for most people with destructive habits, changing up their routine is essential as it requires their brain to re-examine their behavior and make new connections. Even moving furniture around in your house can alter your mood and complacency.

[VinceG]

Originally Posted by nhlpens

I can't make a single decision in my life, and stick to it.
Keep telling myself 'Today I will cut back on cigarettes', but it fails everytime.
Can I get some advice please?

You have not made the decision. If you had made the decision, then you would have cut back. You need to make the decision.

Making the decision to "cut back on cigarettes," is not a strong, well-defined intention. "Stopping smoking," is. You may find it easier to quit cold turkey than you will gradually cutting back.

If you don't want to do this, then you'll need to find some way of making yourself accountable. Take a large dry-erase board and mark, in a big, easy to see, impossible to miss, number, how many cigarettes you're allowed to smoke that day. That way you have an immediate reminder, that you'll see all the time. Decrement that number as you find it easier to only smoke that many cigarettes a day.

Take that number and place reminders in places you'll see a lot. Put one in your office, on your fridge. Keep a reminder on your person. That way you won't forget.

[TracyBrinkmann]

Originally Posted by nhlpens

I can't make a single decision in my life, and stick to it.
Keep telling myself 'Today I will cut back on cigarettes', but it fails everytime.
Can I get some advice please?

is quitting smoking truly the decision that vexes you or are there others. Perhaps there are other decision you have made and succeeded in and the real issue is that you can't seem to quit smoking.......

[DanFromSeoul]

nhlpens,

I recommend looking into the 'why' you want to stop smoking.

Our 'why's in our lives are what make us do (or not do) something.

Why do you want to quit smoking?

Dan

[TracyBrinkmann]

Originally Posted by DanFromSeoul

nhlpens,

I recommend looking into the 'why' you want to stop smoking.

Our 'why's in our lives are what make us do (or not do) something.

Why do you want to quit smoking?

Dan

You are do right Dan.... if you know the WHYs then the HOWs fall into place

[Mondrian]

Have you tried the Allen Carr method? It worked for me and seems to have made stopping smoking easy for many worldwide. It is a psychological method and involves zero willpower.

I've just been reading about what French philosopher, Jaques Derrida, reckoned about the concept of the decision.

For Derrida, the decision is a moment of 'madness' or a 'leap of faith' because one must go beyond ones own calculative reasoning and hurl oneself into an uncertain future.

If making a decision arose out of what it was that we worked out we wanted to do, then it would not be a 'decision' at all, but the mere automatic outcome of our calculative reasoning.

For Derrida, then, it is more sane to perpetually procrastinate and his philosophy has been called a "philosophy of hesitation."