Quitters...

How to Stop Smoking: Simply Don't Plan On It

Want to quit smoking? Don't plan on it, and don't despair.

Recent research finds that a snap decision to quit smoking cigarettes is actually two to three times more effective than planning ahead for the big day.

Some smokers want to quit, but lack the motivation. Others have tried and failed. The trick, according to Robert West of University College London, is to let the motivation build ("This costs too much money," "I don't want to smoke around the kids," "I'm afraid of cancer" and so on) and then seize the day when a trigger to put down cigarettes suddenly emerges.

"It very much goes against conventional wisdom in the field," West told LiveScience.

His research is based on interviews with 1,900 smokers and ex-smokers in England. He found that half of attempts to stop smoking involved no planning ahead and that unplanned attempts succeed for longer than planned attempts.

Actually, that makes perfect sense to me.

After all, most smoking starts on an impetuous whim, why should it stop any differently?

We humans are creatures of stubborn willfulness and often try to talk ourselves into (and out of) things we're not actually ready to do. When that moment of inspiration actually strikes, though, things get done and stay done.