Ready to stub out your cigarettes for good? Congrats, making the decision to quit is the first crucial step toward better health and quality of life. One of the most powerful tools you could use to stay motivated is to identify your reasons for quitting, and the key is to find the reasons to quit that mean the most to you.

Identify your reasons for quitting

Need more reasons and motivations for quitting? Here are some to get you started:

Quit for better health

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated that adult female smokers lose an average of 14.5 years of life because of smoking, so stubbing out is one of the best ways to add years to your life.

Being one of the leading causes of cancer, smoking is linked to at least 15 different cancers, and accounts for at least 30 percent of all cancer deaths, according to American Cancer Society. Quitting smoking reduces your risk for cancers of the lung, larynx (voice box), oral cavity, pharynx (throat), esophagus (swallowing tube connected to the stomach), bladder, pancreas, cervix, kidney, stomach, and some leukemias.

You'll also cut your risk of other serious health problems, including arterial disease, heart attack, stroke, asthma, emphysema, pneumonia and other lung diseases as well as eye diseases. And you'll reduce the risk of diabetic complications such as nerve damage as well.

Plus, your quality of life will improve: You'll breathe easier, have better stamina, cough less, and feel better about yourself.

Quitting also reduces your risk of infertility and promotes a healthy pregnancy, with a lower risk of miscarriage, premature delivery, low birth weight and infant death.