Greetings, and Welcome!

The fact that you are here tells me that you are getting serious about stopping smoking and that you are looking for some suggestions and some help.

Well, I do have some suggestions, and I hope that I can be of some help to you.

For right now, I have two suggestions to get you started.

• First, start smoking the cigarette that is the lowest in tars and nicotine that you can get ahold of. And try to not smoke more cigarettes after you switch over than you are now. You may need to smoke a few more each day to maintain the nicotine level that you are used to. Just be careful you don't over-compensate.
• Second, don't carry your cigarettes with you. Put them on top of the refrigerator, leave them in your coat pocket when you hang it up, etc. The idea is that we want smoking a cigarette to become a conscious act that requires some specific action on your part. Not just a reflex action of grab, lightup, smoke.

These two steps will get you started toward being nicotine free. And there are a few other things you can do which will help.

• Have you set a "Quit Date?" If so, erase it off the calendar and forget it. You didn't start smoking by the clock and you probably won't be successful trying to quit by the clock.
• Have you been using any kind of candy, gum, fake cigs, etc.? Well, stop! Give them to your brother-in-law or throw them away. Those crutches just exchange a new bad habit for the old one.
• Have you been using "The Patch?" If so, you have the right idea, but you shouldn't be using them right away, so stop using them, but hang onto them, you'll need them later.

I imagine you are wondering how you can quit a long-term, in some cases nearly a life-time, habit without the aid of drugs or hypnotism or some other sort of professional help. Well, you can. I did. I had been smoking for 35 years and quit.

My doctor had told me, "When you are ready to quit, let me know and I'll help you set up a program."

Well, I did, and he did, and what I am going to tell you is the result of our collaboration. I quit smoking in 1995, and I haven't had a craving since. I also didn't lose any friends, my job, or my wife. In fact a few weeks after I had quit I was asked several times if I had quit smoking!

Right now, I am working on an expanded "Getting Started" guide which will have another step or two, and explanations of why we do them. If you want me to email you a copy of it when it is finished you can email me by clicking the link here or just send me an email at stopsmoking@more-good-stuff.com and put Stop Smoking in the subject line. I will send you a copy of the expanded "Getting Started" guide as soon as it is done, and I will let you know when I have the complete program finished.

In the mean time, Congratulations on your decision to stop smoking, and I wish you the greatest success!

Sincerely,
Dennis G. Wicks