On a Scale of 1-10 How Badly Do You Want to Quit Smoking?

 

I fear I’m going to upset a few smokers who think they’re ready to quit and after reading this may discover they’re not. The truth hurts sometimes.

I’ve had many people over the years who contacted me wanting my help to quit smoking. While I got into hypnotherapy to help people sometimes I do refuse to take on a client. It’s not the difficult cases I don’t take on but those who are not really ready to make changes.

When it comes to smokers who want to quit I have a question I ask that lets me determine their commitment to quitting, and it’s a self-test people can make about anything they want to change about themselves.

I ask them, “On a scale of 1 through 10 how badly do you want to stop smoking?”

With one being “everybody around me wants me to quit so I suppose I should make an attempt” to 10 being “I’ll do anything to get cigarettes out of my life for good.”

Anything below a self-rating of seven (7) is a cause for concern for me to take them on as client because it tells me they’re not really ready to quit. To take on people that are not ready is a waste of their money and my time.

I know some hypnotists that only take on clients with a self-rating of 10, but some people rate themselves lower for personal reasons and so my range is wider.

I got into hypnotherapy to help people and any hypnotist will tell you success depends as much on the client as it does on the skill of the hypnotist. My time is the scarcest resource I have – it is severely limited – and so I need to use it to help the ones that can benefit the most – those who are committed.

But are people truthful when they answer the question I pose?

It’s been my experience they are because they don’t know it’s coming and so don’t have a prepared script but answer it honestly. People could be overly optimistic rather than dishonest – after all who are they kidding? – But I’ve found people tend to be realistic when answering because they don’t know my filtering range.

There’s one more piece of critical information their answer tells me about the person – will they keep their appointment?

A Quit Smoking Hypnosis program can last for up to 21/2 hours and so this time of my day is tied-up and gone forever – remember my time is scarce. The lower in the range the more risk there is the person will not keep their appointment. I had a recent week where I had three no shows for their quitting appointment. No call or email – they just didn’t show. Effectively one whole working day of the week gone. Now of course emergencies and unforeseen circumstances happen but in these instances people generally call and make another appointment.

Unfortunately, not keeping appointments is common with smokers and especially with smokers who fail my self-test of at least a 7 and one of the reasons why I don’t go below that floor.

So, if you’re a smoker who wants to quit smoking reading this, then before you decide to quit ask yourself on a scale of 1-10 just how badly do you really want to stop smoking? If you’re honest with the person in the mirror and it’s less than a 7 then admit you’re not really ready yet and wait until you are, and you know you’ll keep your appointment – even if it’s with yourself.

Finally, If you feel you’re ready and interested in more information about my own online or in-office then check out my own stop smoking hypnosis programs.

Erika Slater CH
Director
Free At Last Hypnosis