The Art of Preparation

Never quit trying to quit – I am living proof of this! Quit attempt number 19 or 20, honestly I’ve stopped counting or caring about the number. My mindset has shifted from I’m a smoker that sometimes doesn’t smoke to I’m a non-smoker that sometimes smokes to I’m a non-smoker that cannot smoke anymore. 

All these mindsets are okay and to each their own on their journey to healing, health and wellness. For me, this current mindset is a motivator and best believe I’m busting out my DBT skills to cope ahead and set myself up for success. 

Pre-contemplation: I’m ignoring my body, treating thoughts and opinions like facts, and giving in to every urge to smoke. 

Contemplation: I start noticing what smoking is doing to my body, I make an appointment to talk to my doctor to discuss my options and make a plan. And I’m still giving in to almost every urge to smoke.

 Preparation: I gather all the tools I need (whether its the patch, gum, an inhaler or mouth spray, medication or any other non-nicotine product or counselling service that helps you, it’s your choice). I set a quit date, make a plan to reduce my daily intake, and tell my support network because they help hold me accountable. Turns out, this time around I have a couple others that are joining me on this journey! Yay!

To make the most effective decisions moving forward, I need to know and understand… well, myself! My triggers (vulnerability factors, the things that make me more likely to smoke), I need to think about and make a plan for all the risky situations that I’m likely to experience urges/cravings moving forward. My daily routine, the people, places and things in my life, and my emotions. It’s not just about the nicotine, folks!

The Art of Preparation: I open my sketchbook to a fresh page and start Mind-mapping my triggers (I’m sharing an outline of what I explored, you know you best so add all the categories you want/need) – trust me, it’s not as scary when you know and understand what you’re working with.

Then, on the next page, I draft a poster of Top 5 reasons for quitting smoking (I’m sharing two of mine just to give you an idea) and I share it privately with a couple friends because I trust and value their support and feedback, and they help to hold me accountable. They also reminded me that taste gets better after quitting as well, and they’re not wrong!

Now I’m ready to create my Visual Path to cope ahead and plan for all the triggers. Of course, there’s no way to know and plan for everything but I can work with what I know now and what I’ve experienced in the past (I’m sharing an outline of my Quit Smoking Visual Path to give you an idea, yours should reflect all the categories you explored in your Mind-map). When it comes to emotions, I challenge you to ask yourself, ‘when I’m feeling this, what other emotion is typically close by?’. We know from those super cute Inside Out movies, emotions work as a team. What colour are they? Got down all skills and activities that help you to change or reduce triggering emotions.

I take my my time and I’m mindful to add colours and images that bring me joy and happiness. This visual-thinker is quite happy with the results AND I had fun doing it! I know I’ll refer to these pages a lot in the first couple weeks and I may add/change things as I go.

DBT Skills practice through art.  Strength-based, culturally-sensitive, evidence-based resources and courses for kids 8+, youth, young adults, parents, caregivers, and frontline workers. This is not just a fun and valuable intervention, it's an effective preventative practice.

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