Quitting smoking is one of the tougher life changes to pull off. There are countless ways to go (the patch, cold turkey, nicotine gum, hypnosis, etc.). We don't presume here to add a new approach to the fray. That said (and as with many life-changing activities) we think it's critically important to see smoking (and quitting smoking, or the desire to quit smoking) within the context of your life as a whole.
How so? For one, smoking can be an important part of relationships--a shared activity among friends, business partners or spouses. It can be a way of meeting people (that casual chit chat in front of the building on a cold winter day, for example). Smoking can be a go-to habit for dealing with stress, or an excuse to walk away from a tense environment at work or home. For others, smoking is a way of carving out time alone (if others don't want to be around the smoke, it becomes a great excuse to step away for a while).
We think you should quit smoking, and we think you should use any and all the help you can get. Just don't related to smoking as an isolated piece of your life. If you want to change a habit like smoking, you're going to have to change a whole lot more than that in the process. This undoubtedly means focusing on development, and that's a good thing. Just know what you're signing up for.
