When You’re Considering Quitting: Try This!
When you are frustrated with anything or, in some cases, everything, a decision will follow. Perhaps you are wondering, what decision? A decision to press ahead or to quit.
I hope in the past, I convinced you to stick with using continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy, but maybe you’re still on the fence.
So, here are suggestions to keep you pressing ahead. But before I do, let’s do a quick review of some suggestions that may help lead to success with your CPAP.
Have you tried these 3 suggestions?
Suggestions to help you stick with CPAP:
- Measure progress: I suggested you measure your progress. Was last night better than the night before?
- Take small steps: My second suggestion was to take small steps. This helps set your expectation that this is a climb, but if you stay with it, you’ll reach the top of your Mt. Everest.
- Try different masks: Then the final suggestion was to try different CPAP masks. Though I am advocating for you to stick with it, don’t be afraid to try different masks you might feel more comfortable with.
I encourage you to try a few more if these suggestions didn’t work. Here are my other suggestions: seeking accountability, reading success stories, and focusing on sleeping (not on the pressure or mask).
Seek out accountability
Accountability has the power to help us complete what we’ve started. Think about that from a work perspective. Some days, we as people are incredibly motivated to do our jobs. Other days (like Mondays, for instance), it’s hard to get going, but we are forced to do what we don’t want to do since we’re accountable to our supervisor.
This principle can work with CPAP as well. Ask a friend or family member to check in on you once a week to make sure you’re sticking with it.
Read success stories
I don’t understand why this is the way it is, but I think it’s true. There’s something inside of us that sparks us on when we read, watch, or hear a success story. It inspires us to get started or stay with whatever we’ve started.
I remember The Dave Ramsey Show. For those of you who might not know, it’s a financial show. One of his core principles of wealth building is to remain debt-free. In general, when either a couple or an individual starts their journey, they have some measure of debt, but when they become debt-free, often they will sit with Dave and share their story and eventually will scream, “I am debt-free!” It’s often these stories that help others press on in their journey.
Focus on sleeping
Whatever your eyes focus on, your body will follow. This is both literal and figurative. I adapt this principle for PAP users. If PAP users focus on falling asleep instead of trying to breathe with the airflow from the CPAP, they will likely find better success.
Essentially, once the patient falls asleep, nature takes over and the body can automatically adapt.
I hope you find these suggestions helpful. Please add your comments and questions below.
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