There are a number of books out there on smoking cessation. Most of them are pretty useless, as well as most of the professional material produced by most of the professional organizations around the world.

There is one book out there written by a British author that we often hear is quite similar with much of what we teach at Freedom. I have not read the book in detail, although I did actually see a copy one day and read it for about five minutes.

To be honest, I was looking through it to see if he had lifted my work, for around 1999 I started seeing his name being discussed at sites with comparisons being made to me and him. On my quick exam of the book, I felt as if he had his own style and perspective and that he likely came to his conclusions on his own independently.

Many of our views did appear to be the same, but that is not surprising considering how I came out with my ideas, which were by watching people quit smoking and listening to their stories. You will find that the more you talk to successful long-term ex-smokers that there are going to be certain consistencies in their stories, whether they ever read anything by me or the other author or whether they never read anything anywhere prior to quitting.

The reason we will not endorse any other book or service, even if they are somewhat in line with what we teach is that we do not believe that people need to spend a single cent on anything in order to quit smoking and thus we are not going to help promote the purchase of anything. Here is a post that John put up a number of years ago that covers this issue:

From: John (Gold)
Sent: 7/24/2003 2:44 PM

It won't come as news to Joel or this other fella either that 91.2% of successful one-year quitters quit entirely on their own without reading either Joel's Library or his Way. They each either broke free without realizing the mechanics of how they did so (which places their quit at increased risk of future relapse) or after discovering the true power of one puff of nicotine through repeated failure and the school-of-hard-quit-knocks (the reason for our existence – accelerated learning and sharing of their lessons).

As Joel has repeatedly reminded me, we're not teaching anyone “our” way of quitting but the way that almost all but a small sliver of earth's successful long-term quitters quit. We teach “their” way! Joel learned their way by watching, studying, and recording what he saw. Maybe that's why Joel is so insistent on ensuring that it's given away for free – the stories and messages belong to those who taught them to Joel.

No member here at Freedom should feel the need to rush out and purchase any book, tape, plans, program or other materials. In fact, our rules forbid posts that make any member feel that they need to go spend money in order to quit, or if they don't spend money they are missing something important.

With over 170,000 archived member posts all covering “their” way of quitting “they” have done a pretty darn good job at documenting how to get from point A (slavery) to point B (freedom)!

Also from the original Freedom string: "What is wrong with using a relaxation tape designed to help people quit?"

Yesterday a new member wrote how she had purchased and was listening to a relaxation tape for 20 minutes a day to help her to quit smoking. She wrote a message to me on the board asking what the harm of using such a tape would be. I thought the topic deserved its own thread.

Below is my response to the question of what harm could there be with using a purchased tape in order to quit smoking. (I edited the post up a little to make it clearer for this new post.)

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I actually have never listened to any of the tapes that have been developed for smoking cessation and I am not sure what they all say in them. There are so many different types of conventional wisdom shared in most smoking cessation literature–concepts that may very well undercut a quit if taken to heart. See the post The teaching of conventional wisdom at Freedom.

In almost all professional print literature produced on smoking cessation there is the concept stated that if a person “slips”, he or she should not let it undercut his or her quit. In essence, that one piece of advice has given the person the permission to slip and not relapse. I do not know if your tape has that kind of advice or concept shared, or any other kind that may be contraindicated. If it does and you take the advice to heart it could very well undercut your quit one day.

Another reason that we do not endorse tapes or books or other services is that we don't want any of our members or readers to feel that they need to spend a penny on anything to quit smoking. There may be some members that have used tapes or went for hypnosis, but the vast majority of people at our site did not.

When it comes down to it the vast majority of long-term successful ex-smokers in the world did not use these techniques either. Also, the majority of people who did utilize these products or services as their sole support failed in their attempts.

Under these conditions, I see many of these services and products as a waste of money and we do not want any of our members or readers getting the idea of wasting any of their money by recommendations that they read here from posts at Freedom.

Another thing that I think is worth pointing out is that I would advise any person who is allocating 20 minutes a day to support his or her long-term success to spend that time reinforcing his or her resolve at a thoroughly conscious level. That time can be used reading and learning about the dangers of smoking and the benefits of quitting here at Freedom and at WhyQuit.

This information can really reinforce a person's understanding as to why he or she quit and why he or she still wishes to remain smoke-free. I think reading at Freedom and WhyQuit is much more likely to reinforce a person's resolve to stay smoke-free than listening to the taped sounds of the ocean.

The concept that you need a tape to relax after quitting is likely perpetuating the myth that you are going to be more nervous because of quitting. The majority of people who successfully get nicotine out of their body and keep nicotine out end up being calmer for they are no longer experiencing the active addiction that they had sustained for years or decades while using. See I have to smoke because of all my stress.

The way to keep your quit alive and well, and likely, you along with it, is to continue to reinforce your understanding of nicotine addiction and your reasons for having quit and to keep reminding yourself of the benefits that you continue to derive from sticking to your personal commitment to never take another puff!

Joel