As someone who doesn't have a smoking addiction problem, I approached this book not from how it can help me
quit smoking but how it can help me with the same kind of self-defeating
self-talk that defeats smokers every day. I found the principles actually
have wide application, though this book is squarely aimed at the
self-selected victims of tobacco companies.
If you are a smoker, it means you are still enslaved by this killer
habit. This book probably holds the keys that will set you free.
Whatever you've tried thus far hasn't worked, so give this a try.
The principles in this book can help anyone with similar kinds of
self-deceptive disorders, including overeating. Cheong helps the reader
understand the nature of the self-deception and how to replace it with
reality. Many smoking cessation programs merely substitute another form
of self-deception, which feels wrong and leads the smoker to go back to
the old, more comfortable one of smoking.
This book is thin, so it's no burden to read it. The burden comes in
agreeing to let go of rationalizations, self-deception, and just plain
dumb excuses. Once you do that, you can walk through the mental
realignment process that Cheong provides so you see things clearly.
Smoking does more than put a haze in the air, it puts a haze in your
mind. When you agree to clear the air in both places, you can begin the
process of actually doing so.
Cheong's method doesn't require buying expensive chemicals or getting
expensive treatments. It doesn't involve making you and those around you
miserable (in fact, he explains how to not do this). It's not about
"giving up" smoking. It's about no longer being controlled by it.
If you now smoke, you have many concerns throughout the day. You
can't go somewhere without bringing along enough cigarettes, for
example. One reason you have these concerns is you see some things
exactly backwards. You think smoking makes you feel better, but the
reality is it fills a temporary hole created by the nicotine cycle. If
you didn't smoke at all, that hole wouldn't exist.
Smoking is the number one cause of male impotence, so it's not a sexy
thing for men to do. A woman with smoker's face and that stench filling
any room she walks into isn't exactly sexy either. Any reason you can
find for smoking is based on delusion. Part of Cheong's approach is to
address those "reasons" that people use to continue smoking.
Basically, he provides a fresh perspective from which a smoker can
look at smoking and then take positive steps to start breathing fresh
air again. If you can think, you can use this approach. And if you use
this approach, the chances are good you will no longer be a slave to
cigarettes. You'll save yourself hundreds of dollars in purchase costs
over the next year and many thousands of dollars in other costs (not
just medical, but those too) over the remainder of your (now longer)
life.
For the little bit of time and money you'll invest in this book, you
really can't go wrong. If you smoke, buy one copy for yourself and
another for a friend who smokes. If you don't smoke, get a copy for
someone who does. Nobody deserves to die gasping for breath on a
ventilator, despite what tobacco company executives seem to think about
that.