Cognitive Dissonance (!)

Or in plain English, "mental conflict". It's what makes it so hard for you to quit. Allow me to illustrate:

"Here's a really sharp pencil; I'll give you a dollar if you run it 6" into your thigh."
"Are you out of your freakin' mind?"
"Okay; how about $100?
"Take a hike, you jerk."
"Tell you what; I'll give you $1,000 to stab yourself with this pencil."
"$1,000? Nah, I don't think so."
"3 million dollars to stab yourself--that's my final offer."
"Gimme that dagummed #2 Ticonderoga!"

Here's what happened.

I started by offering you a great deal of pain for very little reward; while you'd have liked to earn the dollar your brain, anticipating the pain, said "no way!" There was a mental conflict; the money looked good the pain did not. As our conversation continued the pain/pleasure balance began to shift so that the greater the reward the more willing you became to consider stabbing yourself with the pencil.

When I offered you $1,000 a definitive "no" became an "I don't think so." The conflict (dissonance) was getting pretty heated at that point--

I could tell the pain/pleasure scale was pretty evenly balanced. Then I took pleasure over the top and the anticipation of pain became almost irrelevant. Now let's look at how cognitive dissonance is sabotaging your efforts to quit smoking.

Here's the quitter's mindset:

"This is going to be so freakin' painful! Weeks of withdrawal pangs that feel like an impacted tooth followed by years of longing for the return of my dear, dear friend "tobacco". Brain hears that and says,
"Hold on now; what's the payoff for all this pain we're gonna have to endure?
"Payoff?" quitter asks, "There ain't no dagummed payoff, at least none I care about as much as smoking!"
"Ain't gonna happen," brain replies. "Go buy a pack of cigarettes and make us happy again!"
"I can't do that! If I start smoking again I'm gonna die!"
And a new dissonance is born!

You're thinking of nothing but pain, sacrifice and suffering. How could quitting possibly not be agonizing?

Have you ever heard of the "Law of Attraction"? It's all the rage in personal growth circles these days and it says that whatever you think about is what you draw into your life. With that in mind, how do you think quitting would feel if you adopted this mindset?

"I am so glad I'm quitting.

I'll be healthier, live longer, get to watch my kids and grandkids grow up and stop feeling like a leper when I smoke in public!" Brain hears that and says,
"That sounds cool, lots of pleasure in store! But what's the payoff? There's gotta be some pain in there!"
"Yeah, there will be some minor discomfort for a few days, "pangs" they call them. But my friend Jerry said he was so thrilled to be a non-smoker that he barely noticed them."
"Won't we miss our cigarettes forever more?"
"Hell no! Truth is, there was not one single good reason why I smoked. And when I started paying attention I discovered they smelled and tasted terrible, and I hated myself for being a smoker. And besides, non-smokers don't miss smoking."

Now might that not be a mindset at least worth considering? Pleasure outweighs pain, dissonance disappears. It sure would make quitting easier, wouldn't it?

If you're ready to quit smoking today Click Here!