You may know of someone who has what appears to be a perfect life … a loving family, a beautiful home, an amazing career … but if this person is filled with negative thoughts, he or she is not able to fully enjoy what life has to offer. This person may be focusing instead on what is missing or what is perceived wrong.

You may also know of someone who has faced a difficult situation, lives a humble existence, has to work two or three jobs to make ends meet, but regardless of situation, always has a smile, a wave and an appreciation for everything good in life.

The good news is regardless of our current circumstances, we can choose our thoughts and how we react to any situation. We can choose to be positive, loving, and appreciative or negative, judgmental and critical.

When you find yourself caught in negative thinking, recognize what is happening and stop yourself. Then ask yourself one or more of following questions:

1. How is this negative thinking serving me? 2. Am I willing to let something beyond my control consume my thoughts and ruin my day? 3. Is there something I can do about this to make it better? 4. How can I turn this negative thought into a positive one?

Step 1 – Overcoming cravings Being a smoker is like using crutches for so long that you think crutches are a part of you and your own legs waste away, but when you stand on you own two feet again, strength soon returns. When people smoke more than half of what they breathe is fresh air - pulled through cigarette right down into lungs. So if you feel any cravings you can instantly overcome them by taking three deep breaths. Whenever you do this you put more oxygen into your bloodstream. This means you can use deep breaths to change way you feel instantly and give you power over cravings.

Step 2 – Why do you want to quit smoking? Next, think now of all reasons you don't like smoking, why it's bad and why you want to stop. Write down key words on a piece of paper. For example, you get short of breath, it's dirty and your clothes smell, your breath smells and it's expensive, inconvenient and so on. Then, on other side of paper, write down all reasons why you'll feel good when you've succeeded in stopping. You'll feel healthier, your sense of taste and smell is enhanced, and your hair and clothes will smell fresher and so on. Whenever you need to, look at that piece of paper. Step 3 – Re-programme your thoughts Next, we are going to programme your mind to feel disgusted by cigarettes. I want you recall 4 times when you thought to yourself "I've got to quit", or that you felt disgusted about smoking. Maybe you just felt really unhealthy, or your doctor told you in a particular tone of voice 'You've got to quit' or somebody you know was badly affected by smoking. Take a moment now to come up with 4 different times that you felt that you have to quit or were disgusted by smoking.

Remember each of those times, one after another, as though they are happening now. I want you to keep going through those memories and make them as vivid as possible. See what you saw, hear what you heard, and feel how you felt. I want to take a few minutes now to keep going through those memories again and again, overlap each memory with next until you are totally and utterly disgusted by cigarettes.

Step 4 – What are consequences if you don’t stop smoking? It's also helpful to really consider for a moment what consequences are if you don't stop smoking now, if you just carry on and on. Imagine it, what will happen if you carry on smoking. What are consequences?

Next, imagine how much better is your life going to be after you've stopped. Really imagine it is months from now and you successfully stopped. Cigarettes are a thing of past, keep that feeling with you, and imagine having it tomorrow, and for rest of next week.