Dear J,

First of all, good for you and congratulations! Many good things await you.

Your story is nearly a mirror image of my own experience except that I smoked for 14 years and quit about 2.5 years ago. Like you, I tried tons of different ways to quit but none of them stuck. And, like you, I finally quit smoking for good when I read Allen Carr’s amazing book, “The Easy Way”. His method has a better track record than nearly anything else out there.

My advice to you is to never look back. Though you probably feel a bit strange right now, like something is not quite right, and you may have moments of doubt and fear that you will fall back, it all hinges on one thing: making a decision. What I realized was that cigarettes are primarily a psychological addiction and simply deciding to no longer be a non-smoker is enough to quit forever.

The word “decide” comes from the latin decidere, which literally means “to cut off”. In other words, a decision cuts off all other possibilities.

After I quit, even though I felt strange for a while and had worries and fears, I knew that I had decided to be free from smoking. And slowly it became easier and easier and life became better and better.

Today, 2.5 years later, I know that I will never ever again smoke another cigarette. It is not who I am now. It was a part of the old me.

So, if fears, doubt or worries creep into your mind, gently push them aside and remind yourself that you have made a decision and re-direct your mind to all the wonderful things which await you as a non-smoker. And trust me, from experience, I can tell you, you will never regret this decision because the beauty and joy in your life is going to grow and grow from here on.

Congratulations to you. I know your quest, I know your triumph. You are now on to bigger and better things because you have already conquered one of the greatest obstacles which can befall a person.

Wishing you joy and health,

Richard

Now nicotine is one addiction I did conquer.
So that means I can quit anything in life right?
So far, only managed to quit jobs.

But yeah I quit smoking 8 years ago, after smoking for 20 years.
Cold turkey after visiting a dental surgeon who said he hates operating on smokers due to risks under general anesthesia. (I was getting my wisdom teeth out.
Never touched a cigarette since. The surgeon showed me some gruesome photos of oral cancers.
Oh god that scared the poop out of me!