Forget Stoptober! How About Startober!

Society drives me nuts when it comes to fads like “Dry-January”, “Mo-vember”, and “Stoptober”

The idea of doing something like quitting drinking, growning a 30 day moustache, or stopping smoking for 30 days after a lifetime of battering your lungs with poison, purely to make oneself feel ‘better’ for a month or so.

Now of course the TV adverts have started for ‘Stoptober’, in the annual, ‘let’s get people to stop smoking’ drive by the NHS and or various other parties.

I just find it laughable.

The idea of being able to change someones habits for a month, with a view to them quitting a drug like nicotine permanently is quite frankly a huge ask, even for the strongest of will power.

I’m a non-smoker, light drinker, and generally watch what I eat for 6 of the 7 days of the week. That’s the way I choose to live and I don’t need anyone to help me otherwise. So why does anyone else? We are free thinkers, and should be able to decide these things for ourselves. If people want to smoke, let them. The tobacco industry contributes millions to the economy, and in uncertain times like these, do we want to discourage that?

Of course on the other side of the coin, there is the horrific drain on NHS resources due to smoking-related diseases such as lung cancer, and with a trainee nurse for a sister, it’s reasons such as this why I choose not to smoke, and live a relatively healthy lifestyle.

Anyway you’ll be pleased to know I’ve come up with a solution…

Since it’s human nature to want to do something you are told not to, how about we flip it on it’s head but use health as the message to START doing something to counter all the bad stuff we fill ourselves with.

The TV people (those magical people), came up with the ‘eat 5 a day’ fruit and veg slogan years ago, and it seemed for a couple of years to take the country by storm. Even now, many a diet or health plan has taken this 5 a day idea and applied it in it’s own way.

What you have to do is give folks a goal, an end game, something to shoot at. Weight loss, stronger, fitter, happier, etc etc

For me as a travel agent, my drive of course comes from travel, and if I want to shave a few pounds, I hit the tarmac and fill the salad draw. I know that ultimately I will be plodding around the pool with my shirt off, catching the rays, and it’s only common courtesy to others to make that torso look reasonable right?

I think if the magic TV folks used holidays as an incentive to jack in the bad stuff and start up the good, then we’d all be incentivised into action wouldn’t we?

Imagine your TV telling you that your holiday begins in 60 days and to get off your butt and slip on your running shoes for an hour and get outside.

Advertising is tremendously powerful.

Looking and feeling good are only useful day to day if you have a final objective. What better way to kick start yourself into action than booking a holiday and giving yourself that very objective.

It’s all a bit confused at the moment, and things need ironing out, but I think I’m onto something here, so you may see more subliminal holiday message, or even just a direct order, to book a cruise with me in the coming weeks!

Thanks for reading and as always, until next time….