The Illustrated Easy Way to Stop Smoking: A Smoker's Guide to Just How Easy It Is to Quit (2007)

It is impossible to quit any drug without willpower, but willpower is all you need to quit!

Despite claims by people who want to sell you their solution, cold turkey is the method the vast majority of ex smokers used. Same with drinking. Sheer willpower and the knowledge that it's actually much easier than we are told. If you really want to quit, just do it and get on with your life with the self-confidence and pride that comes with knowing you did it on your own. The physical cravings go away in a few days. The rest is psychological which is easily counteracted by calm and unwavering determination.

Because of new technology enabling us to see brain activity in real time with great precision, there has been an explosion of knowledge of how our brains really work. Suddenly previous misconceptions about brain science have been tossed out and replaced by solid, easily verifiable research. Some of that research has been uploaded to this site.

One of the amazing discoveries is just how much of our brain activity is subconscious - turns out it's over 80%! Our brains are constantly working, passing stuff up to our conscious mind only when necessary. Our subconscious only "bothers" our conscious mind when it needs something it can't answer on its own. This is where addiction comes in.

When first quitting, our subconscious brains frequently nudge our conscious mind to resume. These thoughts are impossible to suppress, simply because our subconscious and conscious minds don't have that kind of relationship. But our subconscious listens to our reaction to the thoughts it passes us. If we calmly label them as unwanted, our subconscious will stop sending them. If we get irritated at even having the thought, we are generating anxiety for no reason. Merely the act of labeling our thoughts is enough to satisfy our subconscious. So when your subconscious suggests having a cigarette, you calmly "say" no, label that as a bad idea and move on to other thoughts. Scientists have seen the effect this way of thinking has on the brain, in real time. It's the fastest way to reduce heavy activity in parts of our brains associated with addiction.

Compare this methodology with a 12 step program, which encourages people to talk about addiction, spending the rest of their lives one day at a time. They are told they have a disease which has no cure and they will be addicts for the rest of their lives. The net result is needless suffering, guilt, lower self esteem, and a subconscious brain that is never told to STFU already! In fact it's encouraged to keep addictive thoughts active! No wonder these programs have such a crappy success rate and produce lifelong sad sacks unable to get on with their lives.

Same thing with traumatic events. Actively reliving the event when the mind doesn't want to does far more harm than good. Much better to let the subconscious deal with it in its own way, and as thoughts bubble up, label them and move on - don't fight them. Trying to suppress thoughts is impossible and only leads to unnecessary anxiety or worse.

I've been typing like a fiend here, but that's because I find this subject fascinating. It's also filled with a lot of disinformation that fleeces people and makes them miserable victims. Sad!