This Threat Kills More than Murder, AIDS, Suicide, Drugs, Car Crashes and Alcohol Combined

In just a second I’m going to give you an important, free self-defense tip that could protect you from one of the deadliest threats in the world today — and I’m going to give you a specific, bulletproof instructions. 

If you’re in the roughly 85% of readers have already avoided this threat,  congratulations.  Feel free to go read something relevant to you when you get to the big reveal.

But if you’re in the 15% who are still in danger, there’s a good chance you’re going to run like hell as soon as I start discussing this incredible threat.  Do you have enough courage to keep reading until the end?  OK, good. 

The threat that kills more people each year than murder, AIDS, suicide, drugs, car crashes and alcohol combined is cigarette smoking.¹  And my tip is to quit.  Now.

Quitting is hard, trust me I know.  I tried and failed a half dozen times before I finally succeeded.   Here are my insights.

• Don’t fall prey to “I’ll quit on Monday.”  Thoughts like that are not helpful.  Always quit night here and right now.  Quit smoking for ten minutes.  Then do it again.  Do that ten thousand times and you will have quit for two months.  Every moment in this journey is its own moment.
• Don’t beat yourself up when you make mistakes.  Just start over and don’t look back.
• So, if you slip up and buy a pack, don’t think “Oh well, I might as well finish the pack.”  Throw the rest of the pack in the trash and start over right where you’re standing.  You’re not getting your money back, and it’s not “a waste” to prevent the other 19 smokes in that pack from going into your lungs!
• Do not push yourself — pull yourself.  Treat a person like a slave, abuse them, scream at them and deny them the pleasures of life they will hate you and rebel against you.  Do yourself that way and you’ll rebel against yourself.  Don’t do it.  Reward yourself by spending your cigarette money on a treat that’s good for you — books, concert tickets, gifts for loved ones, travel savings, etc.
• No matter what happens, don’t give up.  If one method doesn’t seem to be working, try another one.  It’s true that most people who quit successfully quit cold turkey.  But lots of of people who quit use other methods.  I quit by switching to Swedish Snus for two years first.  You might succeed with Chantix, Nicorette, hypnosis. ayahuasca or my father’s method: books and hot baths.  He took a week off from work and did nothing but lay in bed and read Louis L’Amour books.  Every time he got a craving he’d take a hot bath.  It worked!
• If all else fails, consider reducing harm by switching to a less dangerous nicotine delivery system.  All tobacco is not created equal (see graph below).  According some studies, the only risk of snus is receding gums.  And as for vaping, the Royal College of Physicians London says, “E-cigarettes are not currently made to medicines standards…However, the hazard to health arising from long-term vapour inhalation from the e-cigarettes available today is unlikely to exceed 5% of the harm from smoking tobacco.”

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¹ I hope I don’t have to prove this claim.  But if I do, read this, this or this.