7-Day Pre-Quit Plan
Different types of people will offer different kinds of encouragement and feedback, so it’s important to develop a support system from a variety of sources: friends and family, a dedicated accountability partner, and a community of ex-chewers.
Friends & Family
The purpose of alerting friends, family and co-workers of your upcoming quit is to proactively prevent any damage to the relationships that mean the most to you.
By letting them know you’re entering into a period of high stress, they will be more likely to give you space when you need it.
By directly asking for their support, they’ll also be more likely to check in and hold you accountable to your goals.
Here’s a template you can use to compose texts or emails:
Accountability Partner
Your accountability partner (AP) should be someone you see almost every day: your spouse, roommate, or close friend at work.
You’re going to need a small time commitment from them, so make sure it’s someone who cares deeply for you and will donate their time to help you quit.
When you ask them to be your AP, set the following expectations on what you need from them.
Daily: Every time your AP sees you for the first time that day, they should ask you how the quit is going, how you’re feeling, and if they can do anything to help you get through the day. The length of the conversation isn’t what matters; having the check-in nearly every day does.
Weekly: Set aside a specific day and time each week to review entries in your quit journal together (e.g. every Monday at 5:30 pm). Look for trends in the data you're collecting about yourself. Discuss particularly hard moments this past week. Celebrate achievements. Come up with ideas for new things to try and develop plans of action for the week ahead. This should be a more substantial conversation than the daily check-ins, at least 20 or 30 minutes.
Community of Ex-Chewers
At the end of the day, no matter how much your friends and family care for you, they can’t truly empathize with what you’re going through unless they’ve been there themselves.
They might also be more likely to give you false praise or encouragement out of fear of derailing your progress, when what you really need is some cold, hard truth.
For these reasons, you will also need to find a community of ex-chewers to support you on your quit.
Many such communities exist, so you’ll have to do the research to figure out what’s best for you. Here’s a few suggestions to get you started:
Kill The Can: This is the biggest and most active community of current and ex-tobacco chewers. These guys will give it to you straight, but in an endearing way that makes you want to stay quit. Register for their member-only forums and make your first post today!
EXcommunity: Developed in collaboration with the Mayo Clinic, this community takes a broader approach and aims to help anyone looking to quit something. You’ll no doubt find plenty of others quitting tobacco in all its forms, but you might find it interesting and helpful to hear from those who are quitting bad habits outside of tobacco, too.
Special Interest Groups: If you’re already part of a forum-based group for one of your hobbies (e.g. fishing, firearms, golfing, or being a dad) then chances are good there is already a thread there dedicated to quitting tobacco. Connecting community support with something you already love is a great way to increase your likelihood of being held accountable and staying quit.
Team Grinds: Talk to a Grinds team member Monday through Friday from 8 am - 4 pm Eastern. Whether you have product questions, or just need someone to listen, we’re here for you at 510.763.1088.
