over the years, i've responded to a lot of questions from people wanting to quit but not quite knowing how to get there; these questions are pretty typical of the kinds of questions i get (and the answers are pretty typical of the kind of answers i give...). if you have questions that don't appear in this list, please feel free to leave them in a comment below.

frequently asked questions

2009 March 5


the only "quitting aid" you need is the power of repeated conscious choice; whenever you have a crave, make the choice not to smoke in response to it.

I really don't know where to start.
right where you are. it's the only place you can start.
It never seems like there's a good time to quit.
actually, you've got that backwards: there's never a good time to smoke.
I seriously want to quit, but most of my friends smoke, so I don't get much support from them.
that's right; you'll never get the kind of support you need to stay free from practicing addicts. you're smart to be looking elsewhere.
I'm sick of using smoking as a crutch and giving in to the craving whenever I'm stressed or otherwise cued to light up.
then you have to start choosing not to feed your addiction every time it demands to be fed.
Where do I begin?
right where you stand. in fact, you already have; you're looking for the answers.
How do I get quit?
first of all, you have to want to quit more than you want to smoke. what will motivate you to build that desire? figure that out, and you're more than halfway home.
How do I make it last?!
that's easy: don't smoke. no matter what. here's my patented two-step quit plan (it's never been known to fail when followed faithfully):
two-step quit plan
I want to try to do it without quitting aids.
first things first: did you ever see the original star wars movies? in "the empire strikes back" (the second of the original star wars movies), yoda is teaching luke to use the force, and he tells luke to lift his spaceship out of the swamp. luke looks skeptical, but finally says, "i'll try..." yoda yells at him,
"NO! Do, or do not! There is no try!"
same thing here. quit, or don't quit. there is no try.
secondly, the only "quitting aid" you need is the power of repeated conscious choice; whenever you have a crave, choose not to smoke in response to it. the more you do that, the easier it gets.
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