Quitting Cannabis – The Fear of Success

Everyone has their own individual story to tell as to why they want to quit cannabis. My reason was because I had gotten into a rut of smoking it all day, every day. Late at night or early morning, utterly convinced I enjoyed it, I would sit, roll and smoke joint after joint. As the years rolled on cannabis seemed more like self-prescribed medication to keep me calm than the fun, recreational drug I once considered it to be. Knocking on my dealer’s door became a symbol of need and at times desperation. I often looked like I had been dragged through a hedge backwards and I completely lost my self-confidence to communicate with even my closest friends. But the dread of existing without my beloved daily fix was enough to force me to abandon each and every attempt to quit.

You probably know of at least one family member family, friend or colleague who boasts they can quit cannabis whenever they want to. An old pal of mine from way back called Sam used to brag that he could quit instantaneously without any fuss. All he had to do, according to Sam, was to stub out his last joint and that would be the end of it. For a long while he had me utterly convinced that he could do it in the manner he described – until that is I challenged him to actually do it. Then suddenly his boasts turned into the feeblest of excuses. For the first time ever I saw Sam’s natural swagger desert him. Today, tomorrow or any suggested deadline to quit visibly unnerved him.

Sam didn’t realize it but the easy to quit reputation that cannabis has is somewhat misleading. The level of ease or difficulty in terms of withdrawal symptoms is actually irrelevant. That’s because the real problem of quitting marijuana is FEAR.

Prior to making an attempt to quit Sam was confident because he knew there was no physical symptoms. He just didn’t anticipate the fear of losing what he considered to be his only pleasure in life and his special stress-relieving helpmate.

The prospect of a boring and miserable existence without cannabis was enough to convince him to put off the dreaded deed until such a time he forgot or rather until I forgot his boasts.

At www.quitcannabis.net we remove the fear of success by pointing out there are very few genuine advantages to cannabis, if any at all. Most people quickly realize they will not only be significantly happier and healthier they will also not miss cannabis one iota after they’ve quit.

Quitting Marijuana Step by Step

When you are addicted to marijuana and at some point in your life you perceived the realization to quit, you will find yourself in a not-so-easy situation. Perhaps you may not even have the slightest idea of how addicted you are at your moment of realization. Nevertheless, absolutely anyone can conquer marijuana addiction. Be sure that you have your strong will in hand, and look up the succeeding steps which will help guide you on your way to achieving a marijuana-free future.

Do Your Quitting Gameplan Ahead!

Every successful endeavor begins with a well-furnished and polished plan. The difference in planning your day with that of planning your getaway from the marijuana bondage is that the latter involves a lot of willpower. When you plan, write it down. Schedule your activities, such that you will find yourself preoccupied at the times of the day when the urge is at its highest. See to it that you don’t get yourself bored with your new-found activities, based on how you allot time for them. A day not planned is an unproductive mess, and so will your quitting modus if you don’t plan ahead.

Prepare Your Mind, Renew Your Mindset!

Be mentally prepared. Know everything you need to know – what you are expected to go through, what you will be feeling, what are the physical conditions that you may need to be aware of regarding yourself and the addiction you found yourself bound to. Be prepared for the cruel crash of the withdrawal symptoms. Formulate solutions when confronted with problems on withdrawal. Apart from preparation, renew your mindset. Set your mind on the outcome that you would like to have. Refuse negative thoughts, they are futile. Entertain only the thoughts that exercise and reinforce your will to quit. Since marijuana addiction is not chemical in nature (and instead it is psychological), it can be overcome by a simple drastic change in mindset and willpower.

Rearrange Your Social Circle!

Never underestimate the power of peer pressure! Prepare yourself with measures on how to deal with the people who usually smoke marijuana with you. Maintaining close contact with the people who share the same addiction as you would result to compromise and relapse. As a remedy, most people detach from their friends during the specific period of cessation. In the process, share your plans on quitting to your friends to encourage them to do the same, even when you are not around.

Be Humble Enough To Seek Help.

Best of all, acknowledge that even though you have the willpower, you cannot do it your own. Most addicts found it harder to stop engaging in pot sessions because they were too proud to admit their actual situation. Seek a physician’s services, a counselor’s advice perhaps, and the support of your family and loved ones on your decision. The road towards liberty may not be smooth, but along with the help of people who know the best for you, it can be bearable.

Quitting marijuana may not be the easiest thing in the world, but it is certainly, absolutely achievable. If you find yourself entangled in its web today, start making your step now. Don’t wait for the marijuana spider to eat up the rest of you!

What withdrawal symptoms did you have from quitting marijuana?

I tried quitting a million different times, and I believe my symptoms got me to go smoke again. I sometimes got suicidal or extremely depressed. I couldn’t tell if that’s really how the world is or is it just me because I’ve been smoking for so long I forgot how it feels to be sober.

Quitting Pot – the Nasty 4 Letter Word That is Stopping You

There are many things that seem keep you from quitting pot: Social reasons, stress, lack of a plan and so forth but hiding behind these excuses hides a nasty little devil that we either do not recognize or we do but try to hide him all the same; it is a dirty 4 letter word starting with ‘F’

That’s right … it is FEAR (what did you think I was talking about?)

We all like to think we can do what we want but there are obstacles in our way that stop us when the reality is that fear plays a much larger part in it that we will care to admit and if you have a been a long time smoker of marijuana it only intensifies because the alternative seems to much further away.

Most fear is quite subconscious however and usually shows its influences in the form of procrastination “I will quit: next week … after my birthday … when I finish this last bag of weed” etc or more overtly as an imagined obstacle “I can’t quit yet I will: lose my friends … suffer terrible withdrawals … lose my creativity.” etc. In the end though we realize what must be done it just seems to hard right?

This is not isolated to quitting marijuana addiction though or even any other addiction but can be applied to so many things in life whenever we need to embark on something new, a change of lifestyle or a new project or anything that we can not control the outcome.

The key is to not let it stop you from doing the things you know you have to do!

Here are a few main ways fear infects you and stops you quitting the bad habits that are holding you back and remember that courage is facing fear and doing what needs to be done despite of it, it is not the absence of fear itself!

Fear of Failure

Innumerable psychological studies have shown that the fear of failure is the main obstacle to personal success. This is linked closely to self-esteem in that we so closely link any task to our own self worth and so rather than risk possible humiliation we never even try … and if we do try and we do fail it negatively reinforces it all over again.

So how do we get over this fear of failure and all the negative self worth baggage that comes along with it?

Admit to yourself that you are afraid of failure to quit smoking pot.
Understand that if you stumble and fail, give in for just one smoke etc that it is not the end .. just something to learn from.
Relish the learning experience, and reject the illusion of humiliation, this can seem hard but once it becomes an ingrained habit it is a tool you can use for everything in life.

Fear of Success

Why the heck should anyone fear success?? If you want to quit smoking marijuana then why would we be afraid of being able to do it? This can be a tricky concept and is one of the hardest to puzzle out but basically it is because we are afraid of change and the new challenges that come with change that drive this, instead of thinking about positives we subconsciously associate success with all the problems that might come with it rather than the positives it will bring.

Success can also inject a few things into life that seem scary and can be overwhelming: Will your friends be hateful of your choice? Will you no longer be able to feel a high? How will you combat stress now? Any of these feel familiar?

Here are some tips to fight back against this type of fear:

Change comes no matter what happens, quit or keep smoking change will come so why not quit and face the change with a clear head and a fuller wallet?
Babe Ruth held the home run record and the strikeout record simultaneously. Keep swinging for the fences.
The positives that you get from quitting pot are not just the fact you will not be smoking and all that comes with that but it is the drive and determination and life lessons you will gain from the journey too.

Fear of Social Rejection

This can be a part of a fear of success but seems to have a special place for many people looking to quit smoking weed. Often your entire circle of friends may be smokers and the fear of them rejecting your choices can lead to you feeling like they are rejecting you as a person not just your life decision.

So, how do we avoid our fear of social rejection? Some do not do anything and do not even try but this is going to leave you unfulfilled and scared to do anything for yourself, so instead these tips may help you get over this fear.

Remember, you’ll never please everyone. Some people may be supportive and some will never be … who do you want to be your friends anyway?
Your life choices are your own, not theirs and it does not reflect on their choices either, if you let them know that and do not judge them then they have no right to judge you.

Fear of Risk

Like a fear of success this is a fear of the unknown, it is however more focused on being ’safe’. No one ever got anywhere in life by not taking some risks and the same is true of stopping marijuana use because safety is about the status quo and not moving out of your comfort zone where everything seems controllable compared to the alternative.

Our brains actually are geared this way too which makes it doubly hard to beat this fear as we are hard wired to embrace consistency and familiarity. However better things are only there for those who seek the unfamiliar. Try to remember these things in your goals.

What is the worst that could happen? Will quitting pot really be that hard or difficult?
Risk-taking breeds self-confidence. Each step you take, each day you abstain from smoking will give you the energy to take the next step, face the next day until you conquer the fear completely
Do not over think it! Just do it!

If these tips are helpful to you click here to sign up for the quit marijuana newsletter and check out the downloadable resources available from the Marijuana Addiction Treatment page

Marijuana Addiction Hypnosis For Quitting

Marijuana is popularly called cannabis, pot, weed, dope, hash, grass, draw etc, it has many different names. After continued use over a long period of time marijuana can lead to addiction. Marijuana addiction often creeps up on people, it’s something that people often fall into and don’t even realise that they are addicted, because they don’t realise it’s possible to be addicted to cannabis. Some people who are addicted to marijuana even need professional rehabilitation, in fact over 500,000 Americans go to rehab for marijuana addiction every year.

Hypnosis has become extremely popular lately as a complimentary option for those undergoing treatment for marijuana addiction. Hypnosis can be tried in two ways. You can go to a hypnotherapist practitioner, or you can buy a CD or mp3 that help you with self-hypnosis in your own home. They both work in the same way but seeing a therapist will cost you a lot more money.

The technique of hypnotherapy effects major changes in your habits by routing messages straight to the subconscious. Therefore, you develop a liking for certain habits and dislike for others. This helps you follow a certain pattern of behaviour without as much effort. Hypnosis cannot however, interfere with your ethical ideas. It’s recognised to be safe and cannot make you do something that you do not want to. It’s not a forum of magic Jedi mind control.

Trying a hypnosis session is actually quite easy. It may include four major steps and last for about an hour. You don’t have to do anything but go into a trance as led by the hypnotherapist in the clinic. A similar trance is induced by listening to a CD. In the case of the CD, messages are woven into music of certain frequencies. You may sometimes fall asleep during a hypnosis session, but you will always wake up naturally fully refreshed.

If you visit a hypnotherapist your sessions may be scheduled thrice a week. A CD for self-hypnosis can be used thrice in a day if you wish. Either way, to actually benefit from hypnosis to treat marijuana addiction you must remain regular with your sessions. Most hypnosis treatments last for a couple of months. A minimum of 60-day usage is recommended with CDs for self-hypnosis.

Marijuana withdrawal symptoms can range from physical tension and irritability to mood swings, depression and complete loss of appetite. Hypnosis can compliment any treatment for de-addiction and is helpful in most cases.

Marijuana addiction can be got rid of by a combination of exercise, will power, the right support network and hypnosis. No approach should be used in isolation. But, all the effort is worth it for improving your life and becoming addiction free.

Success with hypnosis will vary depending on your susceptibility, some will go deeper into trance than others and are more susceptible to suggestion, but many do experience a significant effect. Obviously will power will still be required.