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Here are 10 common ways that people use to achieve their goals. How many of these strategies do you use?

1. Make a step-by-step plan
2. Motivate yourself by focussing on someone who has achieved a similar goal
3. Tell other people about your goal
4. Think about bad things that will happen if you do not achieve your goal
5. Think about the good things that will happen if you achieve your goal
6. Try to suppress unhelpful or negative thoughts about your goal and how to achieve it
7. Reward yourself for making progress in your goal
8. Rely on willpower
9. Record your progress
10. Fantasize or visualize how great your life will be when you achieve your goal

These 10 strategies are commonly thought to be successful components of effective goal achievement.

As explained by Richard Wiseman in his new book 59 Seconds: Think a Little, Change a Lot, research has revealed that only half of these strategies are actually effective.

In fact the odd numbered strategies have been proven to be successful whilst the even numbered ones are not very effective tools even though they have been widely recommended by lots of self-development teachers.

Let’s look at why the even numbered strategies do not work very well if you want to give up smoking.

2. If you focus on someone you know who has given up smoking, their example does not mean that you will find it any  easier to give up smoking.

4. The bad thing that will happen if you give up smoking  is your deteriorating health. If you focus on this you will feel fear and anxiety and this state of mind will make it more difficult to quit.

6. You may think that the best thing that you can do is not to think about cigarettes. But, if I give you the instruction: “Do not think about a cigarette”, what happens, You cannot stop thinking about a cigarette. Try an experiment. Do not think of a purple elephant for the next 30 seconds. Were you successful? I doubt it.

8. It is possible that willpower alone will be enough to stop smoking, but this is rarely the case. Yes, you do need a certain amount of willpower, but using quit smoking aids such as nicotine patches and gum can ease the withdrawal from cigarettes.

10. Visualising a smoke free you sounds an appealing thing to do, but evidence shows that fantasising or visualising has limited effect as it often leads you to thinking that the process of achieving your goal is easier than it is.

How do the odd  numbered positive strategies work in the case of giving up cigarettes?

1. Planning your route to being cigarette free is essential. Research the various aids that you can use – patches, gum, hypnosis, acupuncture and then plan when and where you will obtain the goods or services.

3. If you tell your friends and family about your plans then you will be motivated to keep trying. If you fail you will feel that you have not only let yourself down, but also your friends and family.

5. Think about how healthy and more energetic you will be when you quit smoking. How will you feel? What will your emotions be: Happy? Elated?

7. If you survive the first week without smoking a cigarette then reward yourself with a treat – a night out, a box of chocolates, a new item of clothing. Reward yourself every week and if you are struggling with the craving for tobacco then focus on the treat that is yours at the end of the week. Perhaps spend the money you would normally spend on cigarettes on this treat to remind you how much money you will save when you are not buying cigarettes.

9. Record your progress. Keep a journal or diary of how you are feeling each day. Record the level of your craving on a scale of 1 to 100. As you progress you will find this level decreasing and this will encourage you to keep going.

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