The title to this article is certainly a loaded question.
A question that has been asked by many, many people who want to stop smoking now, but a question that has no easy answer.
The problem is complex.
First, every single person on the planet is different and reacts differently to different stimuli.
Individual personality plays a huge role.
This alone is a big reason why some people become addicted to nicotine and others don't.
Second, an addiction to smoking entails a lot more than an addiction to nicotine.
This is one of the big reasons it is so difficult for most people to quit.
It is also the reason that one single method to help you stop smoking will not work for every smoker.
A tool that works for one will not necessarily work for another.
I've talked to a lot of ex-smokers while doing research for this article and the totally different stories they tell are amazing.
Some say that quitting was the hardest thing they've ever tried.
Others say that they just decided to quit and that was the end of it.
They never craved another cigarette.
As an ex-smoker, I personally find that hard to believe, but I will take their word for it.
It makes me a little jealous, actually, because I fall into the first category.
Quitting was probably the hardest thing I've ever done.
What plays a role in the smoking addiction besides the nicotine? Routine.
Some smokers actually create a specific ritual around smoking.
I was like that.
I didn't smoke in the house, so I had a special place on my patio set up just for smoking.
I had my radio out there, a desk, a lamp, and of course, the smoking paraphernalia; ashtray, lighter, and the smokes themselves.
I'd get up in the morning, get a cup of coffee, and head for the patio.
I'd sit out there for at least 30 or 40 minutes, sipping my coffee, listening to the morning news on the radio, and smoking two or three cigarettes.
If I ever had to miss my morning on the patio, for whatever reason, I was irritable all day long.
And that's the rub.
It's not the nicotine that gets you.
It's the little routines, habits, which you associate with smoking.
If you stop smoking for three days virtually all of the nicotine gets flushed from your system.
The cravings that remain all stem from the ritual.
This is why no one particular system works for everyone.
You have to carefully evaluate what motivates you to smoke.
Really think about it.
Then pick a method that you believe will suit you.
There are many, including herb therapy, group counseling, prescription drugs, hypnosis, and others.
Hypnosis worked for me in the end, but I'd tried two other methods, besides sheer will power, before I finally kicked the habit.
Maybe you'll have to try more than one method, but I would encourage you to stick with it until you are successful.
Your life depends on it.