A to Z of Stopping Smoking

Thinking like an ex-smoker is when you shift your identity - the way in which you view yourself - from someone who is an active smoker, to someone who used to smoke. 

As long as you consider yourself a smoker you are probably at risk of relapsing. Thinking of yourself as an ex-smoker means you can still look back fondly on your time as a smoker, so long as you know that you can never go back to smoking again. Some people find this approach a little easier than thinking of themselves as simply as a non-smoker, as it retains some connection to their previous identity as a smoker.