Power of the mind

Wanting to quit is most important. Reasons to quit could be one or more of the list of benefits I.E. health, savings, social interaction and my favourite all my girl friends did not smoke before I started smoking (bad tasting mouth).

I made up a silent mantra or mental saying "the urge to smoke will only last 10 minutes" and every time the thought of a cigarette came up I used it.

Also used patches for a few weeks for the physical addiction.

As time went on I used the mantra less and less. After 15 years I might use it once a year, at first about fifty times a day, could be more?

Planning to quit on holiday when stress levels are down might help some people.

The mantra wipes the thought "have a cigarette" immediately. I only made it 10 minutes because that was better than all day "cold turkey". So it was a snack. The "have a cigarette" thought will come back repeatedly in  the beginning thou. I was a bad addict and used the mantra for 6 months before I dared think I might have done it.