“I know it’s bad for me…”
“I’ve quit before!”
“I’ll stop on Monday/tommorrow!”
Your Subconscious is Doing its Best for You.
If any of those thoughts sound familiar, you’re not weak, broken, or lacking willpower. You’re human. And more importantly, your brain is doing exactly what it was designed to do. Most people think quitting is about deciding. Making a strong choice. Being disciplined enough. If that were true, nobody would struggle after the first serious attempt. The reality is very different.
Here’s the uncomfortable truth: Why Can’t I quit? Well, you’re not failing to quit, just a part of you is trying to protect you.
When a habit forms (smoking, vaping, drinking, comfort eating, scrolling, gambling), it doesn’t start as self-sabotage. It starts as relief. At some point, your nervous system learned that this thing reduced stress, soothed discomfort, helped you cope, or gave you a moment of control. The subconscious mind took note and filed it under important for survival. The subconscious doesn’t respond to logic.
You can know something is harming you and still feel pulled towards it. That’s because the subconscious works on association, repetition, and emotion — not facts, warnings, or guilt. So every time you try to quit using pressure, shame, or fear, another part of you pushes back harder. White-knuckling it feels exhausting. Cutting down often turns into bargaining. Relapse feels sudden and confusing. It isn’t that you “lost control”. It’s that control was never the right tool.
If a habit has been with you for years, it becomes woven into who you believe you are. Your routines, your social life, your way of managing stress. When you quit, your brain doesn’t hear “I’m stopping smoking” it hears “something familiar is being taken away”. Therefore this statement creates an internal conflict. One part of you wants freedom, health, and peace while another part wants safety, predictability, and relief right now. When those parts are fighting, quitting feels impossible.
This is Where Hypnotherapy Works Differently
Rather than battling the habit, I work with the subconscious to update the old associations. I will calm the nervous system and remove the belief that the habit is needed to cope, you see when that belief goes, the urge loses its power. Quitting then stops feeling like punishment and it becomes a release.
If you’ve ever said “I just can’t quit”, I’d gently reframe that to this:
“I haven’t yet changed the part of me that thinks this habit is helping.”
That part can change , safely, calmly, and without force using my Hypnotherapy techniques.
If you’re tired of fighting yourself, maybe it’s time to stop trying harder… and start working deeper.
Book a consultation here today! Stop fighting the subconscious and get it working with you!