I started reading that long ago and it did change my mindset at the time. Gave up but only for about a week and by that time I'd already given it to someone else.
I’ve smoked for about 20+ years since my late youth. I’ve previously tried to quit using gums and patches, even Zoloft. No dice. Remember the doctor telling me the Zoloft had a couple of side effects. They gave me the worst nightmares I’ve ever had.
Then my father, back in 2005, had Stage 4 lung cancer. Asked me to quit smoking for my own good, so I promised him. The first was the CL final, when I said to him I will quit if Liverpool win. Halftime Milan up 3-0, felt very depressed, and turned it off. Heard the neighbours yelling and screaming, it was quite late here, so I thought oh great Milan probably bagged a couple more. Turned on the TV to watch Dudek make the double save, and the rest is history. I took the box of Marlboros I was smoking, emptied the contents, wrote the date on the box, and quit then cold turkey.
My father was happy, whenever I visited he would say how proud he was of me. Then he was gone, passed away on July.
In the aftermath I ended up picking back up the habit. I felt so low. Felt like I cheated on my father’s promise. The spiral I fell into was quite an emotional drain, so I promised I would try again.
2011, before I took a trip with my wife to Switzerland, a colleague had passed this book to me called the Easyway to Stop Smoking. In the interim, I tried more patches (useless), acupuncture (not really feeling it) and herbal cigarettes (tasted like shit). I looked at this book, and though instinctively, what is it going to tell me that I don’t know. My colleague had told me I had to be absolutely sure I wanted to quit before I start reading, so I waited.
When I started feeling that mild case of hypoxia, I was doing that short hike to Monjoschutte from Jungfrau. Felt severe shortness of breath, weakness, a little wheezy. Said to my wife, I don’t think this is normal. Descended off the mountain, feeling a little freaked out, and decided I really need to do so,etching about this.
In the end it took me 3 weeks to read his book coming back from trip to Switzerland. Waited a week to read the last chapter, smoked my last cigarette. And that was it.
The third day after, I was walking through the city streets in Paris, smoker a plenty on every corner and under every alcove, inviting me to the promised land. Stuck it out through that, by the end of the week,I was fine.
Less than a month after, cig’s now snell like burnt paper to me, very unpleasant. Didn’t get any urges to smoke, and best of all, could stand by my friends while they are smoking without any issues.
11 years on now, I have not smoked 1 single cigarette. Not one. It’s like a part of my life that was deleted.
Highly recommend the book.
