With quitting smoking perhaps one of the most important tools we can have is our attitude.

I think all too often we say to ourselves I want quit smoking but in truth we should instead think I will.

A positive attitude can be the difference between success and failure and there is a big difference between "I will" and "I want". Quit smoking books often talk about the big hurdle being the fear of failure and approaching any quit smoking attempt with a positive frame of mind will really improve your chances.

I think there are several reasons why a simple change of thinking from "want" to "will" can have a significant impact.

The first is that "will" is much more active. Imagine a small child having a tantrum, shouting "I want quit smoking" while jumping up and down, or another person saying "I will quit smoking". Which one do you think is more likely to do something about it?

The second reason is "will" is used for something that is going to happen. If we tell ourselves it will happen enough times, we will believe it and the fear will be reduced a lot. On the other hand, saying "I want" to yourself every day makes something seem unreachable or at least very hard to attain.

Don't just tell yourself that you will quit, tell your friends too. Just make sure you use will and no more "I want". Quit smoking when you are ready, and when that time comes, you can change your sentence to "I have quit smoking". See how much better that would feel?

I think telling your friends also has several benefits to it. The first is that if you have told them "I will quit smoking" then you will have more support from friends who see that you are committed, and the second is that you are verbally stating your intent, rather than just thinking it to yourself, and this can be a very powerful tool.

The advice I took before successfully quitting was similar to this and had a lot of information about attitude and mindset with quitting smoking. I realized the best way was not to focus on the physical aspect of smoking, but on the mental, and so I fixed my attitude and voila!

In actual fact, you can apply this method to every aspect of your life. Sports personalities are always talking about a "positive mental attitude" and this situation is no different from sporting or any other events in your life. When facing hardship, shift your thinking and see what other wonders you can achieve. Everything is easier with the right mindset.

Take a deep breath and say to yourself "I want quit smoking!" then take another deep breath and change that want to will. "I WILL QUIT SMOKING"