One Step Method to Stop Smoking

In a word, STOP.  Pick a day and stop.  It doesn't have to be some symbolic day, either.  Just so it isn't too far in the future.  Don't waste your money on nicotine gum, Chantix, patches or any of those 'faux-smoke' gadgets.  And definitely don't waste money or time on books that claim to have the "secret".  Chances are, you are not a moron and have control over your actions.  Don't give your control to some external source that doesn't have your best interest as a priority.  If there is a "secret", that's it.  If you smoke, you've given control to some tobacco company.  How much have they done for you?  Have you gotten so much as a Christmas card from Phillip Morris?  Have they thanked you for supporting their stock price?  A few years back, I bought a nice automobile.  Now, every year, I get a calendar, a Christmas card and friendly reminders that services are due.  I do the services myself but the reminders still come.  Has a tobacco company ever thanked anyone for giving up their good health and a significant portion of their income to support their cause?  Have they sent flowers to the funeral of anyone that died of cancer?

The only method of quitting any substance that really works is:  QUIT!!  And when you're tempted to start again, DON'T!!  I'm not over-simplifying or minimizing the difficulty.  It isn't easy at first but it gets easier when you start to realize the benefits.  For me, it was the absence of that awful feeling I would have at the end of the day.  My eyes would feel like they were sunken in to my brain and my face would feel like a raisin looks.  My eyelids would burn and sting.  I would be tired but not in that satisfactory way that you get from an honest day's work but just tired and lacking energy.  I hated doing anything I didn't have to do like yard work, shopping with my wife, playing with the kids.  All that stuff took energy I didn't have and I felt a sort of energy sapping burn in my mid-section.  That was gone in less than three days.  I was 43 when I quit over a year ago (11/11/09) and I feel better now than I did at 18.  That's no exaggeration.  I smoked for 30 years, quit cold turkey and made it.  What got me through was all the little things such as waking up refreshed, having my dentist tell me my gum health was improving, not feeling putrid at the end of the day, having an abundance of energy, not feeling foolish when coming back from a smoke break during a meeting knowing everyone can smell me, not having cold hands and feet, better digestion, better breath (better stated as the lack of dragon breath), more physical strength and endurance.  Some people fear weight gain when they quit but think about the weight LOSS that happens during radiation and chemotherapy treatments.

Some of you are saying "Addiction is a DISEASE".  Addiction is not a disease.  Addiction is a lack of discipline.  You did not CATCH an addiction.  It's a psychological problem but it isn't a disease.  You have control over your consumption of any substance, therefore, a compulsion to consume is under your control.  I know what I'm talking about.  In my lifetime, I've been addicted to alcohol, nicotine and caffeine.  I'm hanging on to the caffeine addiction although I've reduced my consumption considerably.  Before I quit drinking, I thought I'd never quit because I couldn't imagine myself not drinking.  I used to imagine with dread the days, weeks, months, years of fighting the urge, missing the euphoria, the fun.  How wrong I was.  Same with smoking.  I would imagine the misery of not smoking as if that feeling you have when you have to go without a cigarette for longer than you want such as when you fly or attend meetings, church, etc. would last forever.  It doesn't.  Those are cravings and they pass remarkably soon and quickly reduce in frequency.

I'm not selling a method for quitting because there is no set method that necessarily works except just quitting and that makes for a very short book.