Step 5B: Which Work Best For Me?

Research supports use of these 10 methods for resisting urges in general, but does not pinpoint which of them work for you in particular. Reflect on your past experience and perhaps experiment with these 10 methods now.

In the box below, list those 4 methods that are available to you and probably are most effective for you.

The 10 methods are as follows:

1. Take a breather.
2. Knock it off.
3. Say, "Yes, I can".
4. Walk it away.
5. Do the healthy opposite.
6. Talk yourself down.
7. Distract yourself silly.
8. Run away!
9. Stroke yourself.
10. Search yourself.

The research commends these 10 in-the-moment methods for battling moderate urges and ordinary temptations. They work well for the medium and daily, but they may not work for the severe and intense cravings. In those cases, fighting urges may actually feed them. This is when you need to do what’s called Mindfulness-based Methods and Urge Surfing. We consider those in the next step.