Allen Carr's Easyway to Stop Smoking - Allen Carr [68]
I started looking at non-smokers. Until then I had always regarded non-smokers as wishy-washy, humorless, unsociable and pedantic people. However, when I looked more closely it became clear that, if anything, they appeared stronger and far more relaxed than smokers. They seemed to be able to handle stress perfectly well without smoking, and it was obvious that they were having far more fun than smokers. They had energy and a zest for life that I envied.
I started talking to ex-smokers. Up to this point I had regarded ex-smokers as people who had been forced to stop smoking for health reasons or because they could no longer afford it, but that had a secret longing to smoke. A few did say, ‘You get the odd pang, but it really isn’t worth bothering about.’ But most said: “Miss it? You must be joking. I’ve never felt better in my life.”
Talking to ex-smokers exploded another myth I had always believed. I thought there was some inherent weakness in me, but it suddenly dawned on me that all smokers go through this private nightmare. Basically, I said to myself: ‘Millions of people are stopping and are much happier now than when they were smokers. I didn’t need to do this before I got started and I had to work hard to get used to the filthy things. So why do I need to do it now?’ I now knew that I didn’t enjoy smoking. In fact I hated the whole filthy business, and I did not want to spend the rest of my life being the slave of this disgusting weed.
I said to myself: “Allen, whether you like it or not, YOU HAVE SMOKED YOUR LAST CIGARETTE.”
I knew, right from that point that I would never, ever smoke again. I wasn’t expecting it to be easy; in fact, just the reverse. I fully believed that I was in for months of black depression and that I would spend the rest of my life having the occasional pang. Instead it has been absolute bliss right from the start.
It took me a long time to work out why it had been so easy and why I had not suffered those terrifying withdrawal pangs that had plagued all of my previous attempts. The reason is that they only exist in the mind. They are created by doubt and uncertainty. If you remove the doubt, the ‘cravings’ never come.
The beautiful truth is that IT IS EASY TO STOP SMOKING. It is only the indecision and moping about it that makes it difficult. Even when they are addicted to nicotine, smokers can go for relatively long periods without smoking and it doesn’t bother them. It is only when you want a cigarette but can’t have one that the sense of deprivation comes.
Therefore the key to making it easy is to make your decision certain and final. Not to hope you have kicked it, but to know you have. Never doubt or question your decision. In fact, celebrate it.
If you are able to bring this degree of certainty to this endeavor, it will be easy. But how can you be certain from the start unless you know it is going to be easy? This is why the rest of the book is necessary. There are a couple of essential points and it is necessary to get them clear in your mind before you start.
1. Realize that you can do this. There is nothing different about you that makes quitting uniquely challenging. Millions of Americans have done it, and you can too. The only person who can make you smoke that next cigarette is you.
2. There is absolutely nothing to give up. On the contrary, there are enormous positive gains to be made. I do not only mean you will be healthier and wealthier. I mean that you will be able to enjoy the good times more and that your ability to cope during the bad times will improve.
3. Get it clear in your mind that there is no such thing as one cigarette. Smoking is drug addiction and a chain reaction. The first cigarette you ever smoked is responsible for every one you have ever smoked.
4. See smoking for what it really is. It is not a sociable habit with some unfortunate side effects. It is drug addiction and a disease. Face up to the fact that,