Quitting smoking may be a very difficult thing to do, but it will be the most personally rewarding obstacle you have ever overcome when you finally do.

Don't be hard on yourself when you're trying to quit smoking--they don't call it an addiction for nothing. The nicotine in cigarettes creates a very powerful urge in the chemicals in your brain that create the cravings you may experience.

But guess what? You can quit smoking if you really want to. I did it. And I know many other people who quit. The following is a list of five ways to quit smoking. Note: these are all my opinions and have no basis in any kind of medical study. I haven't consulted a physician or anything like that--I'm just recounting the methods that helped me kick the cancer sticks.

How to Quit Smoking Tip 1

1) Make the decision to quit. I know this seems sort of a moot point since you are reading this article and are thinking about quitting, but until you truly decide and believe you want to quit, you won't be able to. It is very important to think about how much cigarettes are affecting your life.

Realize that you want to feel more healthy, to be able to run more than ten feet without hack-coughing up a lung, and to not always smell like smoke. The stronger your desire to quit, the easier it will be for you.

How to Quit Smoking Tip 2

2) Exercise. If you take up running, I guarantee you will get a message from you lungs asking you why you've been treating them the way you have been. You will feel the burn of years of cigarettes. But soon something amazing happens. You won't feel the burn anymore--you can clean out your lungs. If you start exercising, often this will help you quit smoking, because you can only do so much exercise when you smoke. The desire to feel good and not be short of breath can be a powerful one. The more you see not smoking as a positive thing, the more inclined you will be to that goal.

How to Quit Smoking Tip 3

3) Get Support from friends and family. Tell your friends and family to stop you from smoking if you try to light up. This kind of reinforcement will let you know that you are not alone in your struggle, but you have other people interested in your health and well-being. If your friends are on you every time you go to smoke, then you won't smoke as much.

How to Quit Smoking Tip 4

4) Cut Down Your Cigarette Intake. I don't really know if quitting smoking cold turkey is really possible. I do know from personal experience that it can really help you achieve you goal of smoking cessation by cutting back the cigarettes you already smoke. If you smoke ten ciggies a day, cut back to 5. This isn't a perfect way to quit, but five cigarettes is definitely better than ten. Soon, maybe you can cut down to 2 a day, then 1. Then none. It is not a perfect science as still smoking even a few a day keeps feeding the addiction, but just try to start smoking less.

How to Quit Smoking Tip 5

5) Drink Coffee. Drinking coffee helped me kick cigarettes. It just became something I did when I would normally be smoking. I would get the "grande" cup of coffee from Starbucks or Seattle's Best and sip it in the morning as a way to fend off the nicotine cravings. You get a pretty nice buzz from coffee too!

I would carry around a water bottle, a pack of gum, and toothpicks to fight the oral fixation urge that is part of smoking addiction. If you give your mouth something else to do, it can't smoke.

The urge to smoke is really powerful--trust me, I know--but you can fight this battle and win. If you truly decide to 100% quit smoking, and you focus on the benefits of quitting, and you also focus on the horrible things smoking is doing to your lungs, and you focus on how gross you smell all day after smoking, and you just keep at it, you will be able to quit.

I did. And so have millions of other people.

Smokefree.gov provides tips on how to stop smoking and also provides access to expert help and resources that may help you win the war against cigarettes.

American Cancer Society guide to quitting smoking provides additional resources and information about cigarettes, nicotine, and addiction.

One man's story about quitting his almost life-long smoking habit.