As we mark the new year, I hope you took the time to reflect on the highlights of 2022. And I hope you took time to reflect on what memorable moments you intend to create in 2023. I was surprised to find there were so many positive events, memorable moments, accomplishments large and small, and great experiences once I took the time to put pen to paper. I am sure you had the same experience.
I have a highlight from last year to share with you that came a week ago. I received a “Best Indie Book Award in 2022” for my book Nicotine Free, How to Choose a Smokefree Life. I was so pleased to receive this unexpected award! It is a validation to me that an organization took the time to read my book and found it valuable enough to give me award. That was really a special surprise! But like Ryan Holiday and the Stoics tell us, no outside kudos are more meaningful than the work itself, and I find this to be so very true. I loved pouring myself into the writing of my book in 2021. It was truly an uplifting overall experience to show up each morning and let out what was inside, even before prayer, exercise, and breakfast.
This leads me tell you about my greatest accomplishments of 2022. Aside from the wonderful people I got to work with to help them get free from nicotine, I felt a calling to put my CSFL course on video so that I can widen my reach with more flexibility. The video course has been completely edited with captions and is being put on a new platform as we speak. And, I have hired a company to help me market the course on social media for 2023. In addition to that, I am putting together a private Facebook Group for graduates of the CSFL Program so that clients can share wins, challenges, milestones, and support to each other, having shared a common approach. I am so excited!
I will invite my graduates to join the Facebook Group so that you/they can share your experience, strength and hope to others, and to mark your/their own progress as to how far you/they have come. Besides, it’s a nice way to stay connected to the process. And I will keep everyone posted when the course is about to be launched.
A Word about New Year’s Resolutions
I don’t want to be a downer, but did you know that 43% of all people who attempt to stop smoking or vaping expect to fail before February? I wonder that lack of self-trust isn’t due to the approach they take, and their adjusted expectations based on past, failed attempts? I too had no trust that I would be successful, particularly since I had failed 8 times before! But I came to understand that the past approaches failed me because they were based on a lie: the urges will blow over time if one simply substitutes something in place of the cigarette. That never happened and I was left feeling more miserable as time went on. My urges for nicotine only increased as I fought them over time.
But here is the truth: what one resist, persists! The CSFL approach teaches us how to accept our urges, not fight them. When one learns to accept and even welcome the urges, a funny thing happens. They eventually go away all by themselves. No battle necessary!
If you or a loved one are tired of stopping, let this program work for you. It costs less to stop than it does to smoke. Let 2023 be your year to breakthrough!
Call to book a free half-hour zoom consultation. 512-758-1910.