The Mind Set Method to Quit Smoking

"Smoke, smoke, smoke that cigarette. Smoke, smoke, smoke until you smoke yourself to death. Tell St. Peter at the golden gate that he's gonna have to wait, cause you gotta have another cigarette."

If you remember these words from an old Phil Harris song you probably share the conventional wisdom that it is very difficult to quit smoking. If you are a heavy smoker, this attitude provides a convenient rationale for your past failures when you tried to quit smoking. Guess what! All of us have been wrong about giving up smoking. It's easy. It doesn't even take any will-power!

Think about it. It takes will-power for us to do things that we don't really want to do. It takes will-power to stay home and cut the grass when we really want to go fishing. Cutting the grass is not what we want to do so it takes will power to do it. But if we WANT to do something even though it may seem difficult, it doesn't take any will-power to do it, it merely takes a certain mind-set. The difficulties are then easily overcome because it's just what we want to do. So, if you do want to quit smoking, you need to have that mind set. Quitting is what you want to do!

Consider this: You cannot want a cigarette if you have made up your mind to quit smoking. If you have really made up your mind to quit, then obviously you do not want a cigarette. You cannot simultaneously want a cigarette and not want a cigarette. If you can see this logic and will follow this simple method, you can painlessly quit smoking and stick to it. That applies even with a severe habit. I know, because I've quit a 30 year, three-pack a day habit and stuck to it for over twenty more years, and I have received responses from over 250 visitors who say the Mindset Method worked for them. Another true believer responds almost every week now.

Quitting through this simple mind-set method is so simple that it will amaze you. You will find that you have been brain-washed into thinking that giving up smoking is difficult and requires a lot of will power. So, throw away that pack of coffin nails and make that mind-set, now. It's easy because you want to quit. You will be proud of yourself and anxious to pass this treasure on to a friend or loved one .

The Mind-Set Method involves only three steps: Preparation for the Decision, Doing It and Enjoying Life Without Cigarettes. I will illustrate these steps and tell you a little about my experiences.

Preparation for the Decision

In order to firmly establish the mind-set, so that you'll not be backsliding as you have done in previous efforts to quit, just jot down on a piece of paper the reasons that you WANT to quit smoking. Some of those reasons may be: I'm hacking and coughing my lungs out; it's leading to a painful early death, it's a filthy stinking habit, which is offensive to others, and it's expensive. If you have any other reasons, just jot them down too. Then if you even think about smoking another cigarette, just remind yourself of the reasons that you have the mind set to quit. It is what you Want to do. It's easy! And because it's what you want to do, any signal that your body sends to the contrary is a false signal. You will not need to find a substitute, such as candy or gum because not smoking is what you want.

This preparation is like a self-hypnosis. In fact it is exactly what hypnotists do when you hire their services to help you break a habit.

A Canadian friend of mine was discussing my habit with me one day after a golf game. He had noticed that I smoked at least one cigarette while playing each hole. That's a whole pack of cigarettes in under four hours. He said that his habit was almost as bad as mine but he had given it up through hypnosis. He was not one of those upity reformed smokers, but semed to be genuinely interested in helping me with a method that he found to be successful. I asked him if he remembered what the hypnotist had said "Sure, he just asked me why I wanted to quit and when I told him he said that if I would think of those reasons when I felt like I wanted a smoke, that I would not want one." I asked him how much he paid the hypnotist for that little gem of advice and he said about $60 in US currency. I replied jokingly, that now that I knew the "secret", I could do that and save $60.

Doing It

Several days later while driving along the highway and puffing away as usual, I thought about my friend's experience and decided to give it a try. I said out loud that I didn't want another cigarette because they were messy, offensive to others, expensive, frustrating and definitely dangerous to my health. So, I took the open pack from my shirt pocket, threw it out the window and have not had another cigarette since then. That was in 1979. When I thought I wanted a cigarette, I simply told myself: "No, you want to quit. You do not want another cigarette. " And I reviewed the reasons that I had spelled out to myself when I first established the mind-set. I deliberately avoided substituting something for what I thought I wanted, as I had done in the past. (food, gum, tooth brushing, etc.) Except that each time I thought I wanted a cigarette and gave myself the little lecture, I would take a few deep breaths of good fresh air. Maybe it was self-hypnosis, but whatever it is called, it worked.

Enjoying Life without Cigatettes

There is no need to worry about remissions because each false erge to smoke can be overcome just as the first one, by remembering what it is that you really want. You will actually enjoy not wanting a cigarette. Your family and friends will be very proud of you and will rather idolize you for your "strong will-power". Only you will know just how easy it is because you are only doing what you want to do. Doing without all those big negatives to smoking. The biggest problem will be refraining from being a "holier that thou" ex-smoker. It's hard to stand by and see so many of your friends punishing themselves with smoke. But don't resort to such offensive tactics as putting up little "Thank you for not Smoking" signs. Do them a real favor. Just tell them if they want to quit, here is a painless method.

Think about it

Now, if this seems rather incredible because of it's simplicity, there is an explanation. What is happening here is the elimination of cognitive dissonance through a mental process, which differs from but is just as effective as hypnosis. Studies of the mind in the areas of self-deception, errors in perception, thinking and decision making have shown that a mind-set is a powerful process and can lead to phenomenal achievements, for better or worse. In this case, just knowing that you can quit smoking painlessly and that you want to quit, will free you from all of those past misconceptions. You will succeed because you want to succeed and you know that you can.

Other how to quit smoking plans are available and offer a wide variety of crutches to accompany the program. These are herbs, medications, patches, counseling, hypnosis, and others. These can and do work too, but only because the mind is set to believe that they will. Most of them, by the way, are "for sale".

When The Mindset Method works for you, please let me know so that I may include you in the statistics for additional motivation of others. And to express your gratitude in a meaningful way, send the price of one carton of cigarettes to The American Cancer Society

Although it is material protected by copyright, it may be reproduced in order that it may help others as it has helped me, so long as it is not used for any commercial purpose. Good things will happen when you have the Mind-Set.

Years after I created this Mindset Method, I encountered a perfect validation of the method: Check this out!

It's All in the State of the Mind (by an unknown author):