Quit Day is what we call the day you stop smoking. For some, it can be a very important day, marked in the calendar and accompanied by solemn rituals. For others, Quit Day may be a circumstantial date, perhaps without planning, but rather as a consequence of the diagnosis of an illness, bad news, or a “sudden decision”. Both approaches are valid; what matters is stepping into a new smoke-free life.

People who prepare in advance to stop smoking and set a date in the calendar can give Quit Day greater significance. In life we need rituals and special dates to break out of routine and to close some life stages and begin others. In the past, rites of passage into adulthood were celebrated; nowadays we celebrate the new year, birthdays, retirement, or funerals, to name just a few. These acts help us leave behind whatever we want or need to say goodbye to in each person’s life, and to think about what other things we want to incorporate into our future life.

Quitting smoking is, without a doubt, an extremely important life change which, if you feel like it, you can ritualise with some kind of get-together, meal, celebration or reward, as long as that activity does not predispose you to smoke.

For Quit Day we recommend some strategies that will be useful to make this step a firm and solid one. These strategies will also be useful in the days or weeks after Quit Day, so you can reuse them at any point in the process:

Remove from your environment everything that reminds you of tobacco: ashtrays, lighters, full or empty packets, photos of you smoking, matches, rolling machines, promotional products… from home, the car, or anywhere else. We also suggest washing your clothes, perhaps even using a new detergent, with a different smell that helps you remember the change you have just embarked on. You can even take the opportunity to go to the dentist and have a hygiene appointment or oral check-up that gives you that feeling of cleanliness and serves as an anchor, a bodily reminder. A deep clean can act as a repellent to tobacco for a few days, similar to how, when you brush your teeth at night, you avoid eating after that.
Set goals day by day. For example: The goal is not to smoke today; tomorrow we’ll see. The further in time you place the goal (never smoke again), the further away the feeling of satisfaction and reward that comes with meeting the goal will be, and, therefore, motivation will be lower. In addition, short-term goals are much more realistic and easier to achieve. It is important that successes accumulate. That is, if you manage not to smoke today, you will have a slight feeling of success, as you have fulfilled the intention set in the morning. We encourage you to accumulate the QuitNow milestones that unlock as the days without smoking go by, as they will feed the experience of achievement which, in turn, will fuel motivation, consolidate your commitment to yourself to stay firm and abstinent, and strengthen your self-esteem. If you set yourself the goal of never smoking again in your life, and there is a relapse after 2 months, the feeling will be one of failure. On the other hand, if you have been able to experience several feelings of success and different daily achievements, that process can be valued positively, and it will therefore be easier to resume. If the process and the relapse are defined merely as a failure, it will take more mental effort to take it up again.
Create the CV of positive feedback. In the previous point we talked about the importance of feelings of achievement. In emotional terms, situations experienced as achievements tend to generate feelings of joy, and the need associated with joy is being able to share it with other people. Satisfy this need and share your achievements and milestones, both in the QuitNow community and outside it. Pay attention, and even write down in a notebook in CV format (date and person), all the positive statements about you that come from people in your environment or networks. It is important to collect personal validation in these first days, and there is a tendency to remember negative feedback more than positive. We suggest that you write down, throughout the day, everything positive that people say about you, whether it is related to tobacco abstinence or to any other aspect.
Establish new habits from the first day, a small routine that anchors abstinence to your life and your day-to-day and reminds you that your commitment to yourself is still in force: a brief shower outside your usual time slot, a different drink at the same time every day, a different route to work, or carrying a meaningful object that functions as an anchor (an association between an object and the intention).
If you have built associations between smoking and other activities, times of day, drinks or foods, we recommend introducing different activities at those times. For example, after meals, brush your teeth immediately and, if possible, go for a walk. Or swap coffee or beer for another drink. Or, if you used to smoke at the bus stop, take the tube, etc.
Write a farewell letter to tobacco, in which you address the cigarettes directly, as if they were a person you are breaking up with. Describe the moments you lived through, the good and the bad, and the reasons why you are quitting. Thank them for their company, if you think it is necessary. Let them know your reproaches, if you feel it is appropriate. Accept the ambivalence; it is a letter without censorship and without editing. You can talk about the relationship you have established with tobacco, as it may have become a central element in your life, present at important moments. It may also be good to refer to your own experiences related to tobacco, make explicit the need for change and for breaking with the cigarette, and express the grief and expectations for the future. You may feel anger, sadness, ambivalence, joy or fear, for example, fear of living through an ordeal or of not being able to do it (how am I going to be able to live without tobacco? What if I fail? What could happen if I keep smoking?). It is natural to feel different emotions, and it would also be natural if you do not feel anything in particular. Finally, the goal is to say goodbye to tobacco. You can reread this letter in difficult moments. Or burn it. Reading the letter in front of important people, for example family, friends, or group therapy peers, usually strengthens commitment.
Find distractions for the mind: watch a film, go for a walk, listen to music, draw, go to places where smoking is forbidden, etc.
Find distractions for the body: breathing exercises, sport, a cold shower, etc. For the mouth: breadsticks, cinnamon sticks, carrot sticks, chewing gum, toothpicks, water, etc. For the fingers: pencils, paper clips, anti-stress balls, etc.
Do activities that give you pleasure: try to live as hedonistically as possible. Your own body can be a source of pleasure: you can play with temperatures, textures, massages, or give more space to sexuality, and introduce tasty foods, etc. We recommend avoiding alcohol and caffeine. This suggestion has to do with the fact that, when you stop smoking, you may have the feeling that you are losing something in the sphere of pleasure, although later we will explain that smoking is not pleasurable, but rather relieves withdrawal syndrome.

Many people have done it. You can too. Treat yourself to something. You can be proud of yourself and grateful to yourself.