Used to smoke ~ half a pack a day until i started working in Investment Banking. Has anyone of you also found it incredibly easy to quit once you started working long hours and get involved at work? IMO it's actually one of the few upsides of working long hours and being very busy, as it completely takes your mind off such bad habits. I can only imagine how it accelerates your health deteriorating combined with the little sleep you get anyways.
What are your experiences with smoking co-workers / are there even any? Is it possible for them to be top performers at your firm despite going out for a few during the day?
Comments (24)
Only if they can do cool tricks.
"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
lmao.
gotta practice those tornados - i'd be lynched before noon
Quitting Smoking (Originally Posted: 07/01/2012)
Fuck. I set a goal to quit and fail every time. I resolve to stop smoking almost daily. I state it out loud and humiliate myself within 24 hours. My stupid brain seems to automatically lead me to the nearest gas station to pick up a pack of smokes. I then proceed to smoke the entire pack within a week. This cycle gets repeated without fail almost every week.
I know smoking is terrible for you, I took the same D.A.R.E. classes in middle school everyone else did. I'm going to die a lot sooner, have health problems, etc. I've read all the medical literature and understand why I will get lung cancer. I've seen the pictures of blackened lungs on the cigarette boxes. I know what happened to the Marlboro Man (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayne_McLaren). So much for making good decisions...
I've been consistently smoking cigarettes for the past five years. Occasionally, I'll gather up some willpower and make a run at quitting through various methods. I've tried gum, patches, cold turkey, and all that bullshit. It helps for a short period of time, but I end up going back to the cigarette eventually. The longest I've quit so far has been around a month and a half.
I'm pretty pissed and definitely want to . It's definitely not good for my health and I'm guessing, by extension, my career. I've been fortunate that it's relatively accepted where I work and I've seen about half of my co-workers light up a cigarette at some point. But even still, smoking is one of those things that don't reflect well on your perceived character. And as we know, appearances are everything.
Lately, I've been lately thinking of going to the Doctor and getting him to write me a prescription for Chantix (http://www.chantix.com/) or some other pharmaceutical to help me quit. They appear to directly alter your brain's chemistry and its reaction to nicotine, instead of serving as a nicotine fix substitute like the other methods. At first glance, this sounds like something that actually might work and is at least worth a try.
So the reason I bring all this up is I'm curious if others have gone through the same thing and succeeded. Has anyone effectively dealt with quitting smoking for an extended period of time? If so, what method(s) did you use to quit? How have you dealt with avoiding a relapse?
See my other WSO Blog Posts
My 3 protips are -
1) Do not try to reduce/etc. Stop buying cigarettes. Just quit.
2) I think the thing that helped me the most was identifying the times at which I really had to smoke. For example, I always enjoyed a cigarette after food. But I ABSOLUTELY HAD TO smoke when I was out with friends / clubbing / etc. Especially when drinking and all my friends smoking around me as well.
So one day I decided to quit on my girlfriends birthday - probably the biggest party I've been to at that time. I lasted through the night and it was much easier afterwards.
3) Running helped me a lot. Every morning, starting from walking and building up to 10k in about a year. It made me feel like with every run I "increased my health" and every cigarette "decreased it". So each time I though about smoking I remembered the last 400 metre sprint at the end of a 10K and that it would be wasted if I lit up.
"Every man should lose a battle in his youth, so he does not lose a war when he is old"
double
"Every man should lose a battle in his youth, so he does not lose a war when he is old"
Side-by-side comparison of top modeling training courses + exclusive discount through WSO here.
I quit dipping a while back and while not the same there are some similarities. I found that the best way for me to quit dipping was to change my routine. I was constantly putting in habit dips at certain points in the day because that is what I had always done and it just seemed right. I would recommend doing something different during these times when you might go for a habit smoke. Try to replace it with something that promotes a healthy lifestyle like the above poster suggested. Also, just quit. It sounds easy but you really have to have that resolve to not go to the gas station and buy the pack of cigarettes. Every time you buy a pack that is another wasted week that you will continue to smoke. Do not make mental excuses or rationalizations as to why you keep smoking either. This was a problem with me. Playing baseball growing up is what started my dipping habit because I was around it so much. Try to separate yourself from the people that smoke all the time and this should make things easier as well.
I hope all the best with the quit! Fight hard, sir!
Mr.Mathie | Ideas are nothing without execution - Jeux de Commerce Central
I quit smoking because I basically got reamed out by a senior level guy at an old firm for taking a cigarette break as a junior analyst. After that I decided I couldn't smoke at work anymore, and I had already been trying to quit (I did the same shit man - gum, patches, those damn pills... none of that shit worked) so I basically made sure that when I was at work I didn't have any cigarettes around and obviously I was too afraid to smoke at work from that point on. Seeing as I was at work for 75% of my day... that meant I was effectively quitting cold turkey. The first week or so was painful because I'd be thinking about going home and being able to smoke after work, but after that first week I didn't even want to smoke when I got home, I just wanted to sleep or go out or whatever. So I think what helped me quit was basically just having to make a choice between my job and a bad habit, and in that case luckily the job won out and eventually the cravings pretty much went away. I still smoke occasionally when I drink or something but it's really nowhere near as bad as it used to be, and I haven't bought a pack of cigarettes in like 2-3 years.
Best advice then is just to put yourself in a situation where you are physically unable to smoke. In my case that was just being at work for like 16-18 hours a day without cigarettes nearby, and the fear of getting bitched out again by one of my bosses...
That would have been epic though, if all the work that has gone into getting a job was wasted cause of smoking... I would have taken Philip Morris to court.
"Every man should lose a battle in his youth, so he does not lose a war when he is old"
I have a solution for you.I did it.So can you -
Step 1 : Follow 100%-0% rule.Either you quit cigarettes or you don't.There is no middle path.Smoke no cigarette at any time at any circumstance at any place at any cost.
Step 2 : If you can't follow step1 ,forget quitting smoking.
Yes Step 1 is most difficult ,but you must understand that it is the only way to quit smoking.Try to avoid going with friends for smoke even if you are sure that you won't smoke.Just avoid that "smoke talk" .Don't see people smoking.Avoid them . Remember this mantra :
I would not die due to "not smoking"
I would not die due to "not smoking"
I would not die due to "not smoking.
I have successfully quit smoking after 5 years of smoking and I can tell you it feels great to be a nonsmoker.You are once again in control of your life.You can taste food again.You no longer would want to light a cigarette after that emotional outbreak.You can be the master of your life again and not those cigarettes.Remember step 1 is difficult but it is the ONLY way and you CAN do it. All the best.
I've never been a smoker, but this is what I would do: get a new notebook and keep a journal. Make a specific goal to quit either cold turkey or to ween down every week, and write that down on the first page. Every time you buy or smoke a cigarette write it down in the journal. You can add notes like what caused you to buy/smoke so you can keep track of things that may be triggering your impulses. Look at it at least twice a day, and commit to being 100% honest with yourself.
Alternatively, you could try something like http://www.stickk.com/ . You can set up a goal and put up money. If you achieve it, you keep the money. If you don't, it goes off to a recipient of your choosing. I would just put up enough so there is no looking back, and set it up so a friend would get the money. This would provide a big time incentive. How pissed would you be if you failed to quit and your buddy gets a bunch of cash for nothing?
Quit smoking 3 weeks ago. Went on a beach trip to Las Terrenas and did not go back to my job. I just staid here in Samana!
And now:
-non smoking
-living on the beach
-ipad connection under the palm trees
and life goes on... but only better and less stress!!!
I've quit a few times when smoking just wasn't enjoyable. I a few weeks it was enjoyable again. I have an occasional cigarette every now and then, but not on a regular basis.
Good advice on here, I still havent been able to quit as well. I've tried a lot and my best attempts were cold turkey. I think NRT (gum, patches, etc.) is kind of stupid.. just dosent seem logical that in order to quit nicotine, you intake nicotine. I remember the first few days of trying to quit with gum I would get all pissed off and just start chomping away.. at least 2 or 3 packs of 4mg gum a day. That works out to a lot more nicotine then when I was smoking lol, the patches were definitely better but still no good for me. For me it was usually a catalyst such as sickness/ my major sinus surgery that gave me the best shot, but even with my fear of further fucking my head up I still only lasted a month.
You smoke a pack per week. I don't even think that is enough to be physically addicted to cigarettes. The people I know with lung cancer typically smoked 2-3 packs per day for decades of their lives. Smoke up kid. It makes you look cool.
Competition is a sin.
-John D. Rockefeller
I hope you know you are wrong. You could get lung cancer from standing near your smoker coworkers for half a year worth of lunch breaks. You could also smoke for decades and never get cancer. It's not
"Every man should lose a battle in his youth, so he does not lose a war when he is old"
Though it is enough to be addicted it's not, typically, within the cancer range, though it is in the heart disease range. As for myself, if thumb sucking was socially acceptable I'd have no problem, otherwise, I'd rather smoke.
Good timing for this post. As someone who smoked for six years(15-20 a day), first considered quitting two years into that stretch, and is currently 9 days smoke free (2 days shy of my record!!!!!!), I'd like to bestow some of my wisdom on you.
All it takes....is desire. I think I'm done this time and feel better each and every day. Do it for yourself man.
Thanks guys for the tips. It's much appreciated. This smoking shit is just getting stupid and juvenile, like, I can't even believe how much of an idiot I am sometimes.
See my other WSO Blog Posts
A few questions for InefficientMarkets: Has anyone from your family died from smoking cigarettes? Do you have any health problems of your own from smoking? Have your girlfriends expressed strong objections to your smoking? I think you understand the risks, but being short of breath and having a raspy cough may be more persuasive arguments than the logical ones you've already come up with...
Howard Schwartz
See my WSO blog
If you're really trying to quit but you then you find yourself waiting in line at the gas station to buy a pack and feeling disappointed in yourself... just throw them away immediately before opening it. Or run the sink and get them wet. Or give them to a bum. Anything at all.
And if the next day you wish you hadn't done that and your back at the gas station... do it again. Keep doing it until you stop going to buy cigs all together. It will be a slow, difficult process and you will still want them from time to time but you will subconsciously start to train yourself and realize that it is not impossible.
I quit this year and I agree with a lot of these posts. A couple things that helped me:
1) Weening doesn't work, all or nothing
2) Not sure how social you are but tell everyone you are quitting...family, friends, strangers and make sure they help you enforce.
3) Along the lines of #2, I quit with a good friend and made a sizable bet (think like 1 month rent) against each other that we would not smoke. Renting a chalet in Verbier with the money for New Years if we can make it one year.
4) Exercise helps a lot. I was never fat but I'm in the best shape since college. I found that I became repulsed by cigarettes after a nice 4 mile run.
Get it done.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
Want to sign in with your social account?
Want to Vote on this Content?! No WSO Credits?
Join Us
Already a member? Login
Popular Content
See all