Opening page for How to Quit Smoking Without Willpower or Struggle"

We at PresMark Publishing Co. are proud to announce, in addition to our softback copy of
"How to Quit Smoking Without Willpower or Struggle",
the arrival of our newest release, the eBook version* of

smoke3.gif (7264 bytes)

After purchasing it, you will receive your eBook within twenty-four hours (usually a lot less), seven days a week, for...not the retail price of $~~9.95~~...but the "Let's Quit This Year" Sale price (20% off!) of only $7.95!!!(Nevada residents add 7.25% sales tax.)

*This eBook is formatted in Adobe Acrobat PDF for viewing or printing on PC or Mac machines on standard letter-size paper. It is stored online. You will receive an email confirmation which will include a link to the free Adobe Acrobat Reader 4.0 download page. The eBook is identical in text to the physical copy as to the "How to" portion, but does not include the Reference Section articles. It does include links to other websites that we believe are valuable. The eBook may be printed out and distributed freely by any registered owner to any family memeber they believe it may help to quit smoking.

As always, there is no charge for unlimited email support for either the eBook or the physical copy.

In addition, we are still offering our original physical copy in softback, also discounted 20% from the retail price of $14.95 to 12.00 (plus $4.00 for Priority Mail delivery for orders within the USA. Please click the Prices and Order Forms link for information about how to order from outside the USA.)

Now please, go and explore our site. Be sure to see the "vivid pictures" of what smoking does to your lungs.

headshot.jpg (8035 bytes)

I'm Mark Whalen. This is the story of how the internationally best-selling book, How to Quit Smoking Without Willpower or Struggle, came to be.

Thirty years ago, about 1970 I believe, I heard on a radio news show that Joe Pyne had died of lung cancer. Joe was a Korean War hero who'd lost a leg in service (if memory serves.). He was my favorite television talk-show host of the sixties.

That was the first time I realized that I must quit smoking, and began my first failed attempt to do so simply by exerting willpower. I was about twenty-five years old, and had been smoking for almost twelve years by then...perhaps a pack a day on average since I'd quit school at sixteen.

I remember that effort lasting perhaps the rest of the day.

I tried again about two years later. But whenever I went to my favorite beer bar to play pool as I so loved to do, I had serious trouble concentrating on anything but the cigarettes being smoked around me. So I made a deal with myself. I would only smoke while drinking beer and playing pool.

I think it was less than a week later that I realized that I had smoked my second cigarette, lit from the butt of my first, and had not put a quarter up for a game of pool, and had not even tasted the beer getting warm in front of me. Worse, I realized that instead of hanging at the bar my usual two or three nights a week, I'd been there every single night since I'd made that deal with myself. I went home and continued to smoke.

The third effort only lasted one more day. I realized that I could not quit by using simple willpower if my wife refused to join me in the quit. Her smoking next to me was driving me crazy. By the end of that day, with her constant refusal to even try, I joined her.

In 1973 I became a "Stage Hypnotist" in nightclubs, and joined the staff of Hypnosis Motivation Institute in Los Angeles, California, as a Clinical Hypnotherapist. There I was Certified as a Master Hypnotist. I became a Charter Member of the American Hypnosis Association, and member of the AFL-CIO Hypnotist's Union. I specialized in helping people to quit smoking. But I was still smoking myself, as were many of the others on staff.

What was wrong with that picture?

All my life, from my earliest memories when I completed first and second elementary school grades in one year, I've been told that I have an extremely high I.Q. I'm supposed to be "smart". This I have found to have been far more of a burden in my life than a gift or asset. This fifty years later, since my debut as Doogie Hauser, being "smart" hasn't seemed to have been reflected in my income or lifestyle. It certainly has not contributed to my emotional stability or personal happiness. As the late Charles Shultz's character, Snoopy, once sighed as he gazed into the heavens from the top of his dog house, "The heaviest burden in life is a great potential." Of course since then I have come to understand quite clearly is that to be truly smart means to be truly happy doing what one loves to do, and being compensated for that pleasure. It has nothing whatsoever to do with how right or fast you can test on paper. Otherwise, wouldn't every single Jeopardy champion and Mensa member be a very happy millionaire? But I digress.

So what has this got to do with smoking, you may ask.

I had this thought one day in about 1974, when I was making new personal resolutions for myself, now that I was a single guy again. The thought was this.

If I am so smart, shouldn't I be able to figure out how to quit smoking? And do it without using any willpower? An "easy" way out?

In those days there was no Zyban, patches, or Nicorette, or even much consciousness about quitting smoking. People who were struggling to quit were frequently the butt of television sitcom jokes. (Come to think of it, they still are. But why isn't heroin addiction just as funny? It kills far less people, and usually in a far quicker and more gentle way. Not that I would ever try it!)

So for the next few years I started thinking more and more about my habit/addiction. Together with what I knew about hypnosis, and what I'd learned about human behavior from the clinical point of view, and from consciously observing my own behavior with regard to smoking, I began to develop little behaviors that I did along with my smoking. What I knew I could NOT do was deny myself a cigarette when I had the urge. I believed that, no matter how hard I tried, or how long I held out, eventually I would start to smoke again. So I had to find a way not to want to smoke. Not just to know in my mind it was wrong, but to know it in my body as well. I wanted to reverse the desire from craving to not craving. I wanted and needed to figure out a way not to care about smoking any longer. Not even to think about it.

I knew from my experience as a clinical hypnotherapist that just getting someone to "act out" the desired behavior doesn't change them inside. Eventually, they will revert. All that kind of hypnotic suggestion leads to is building a new habit of denying the old habit. Two internal subconscious forces in opposition. Tends to make one rather tense, and most begin to sublimate with food, nail-biting, etc.

I knew I had to "mess" with my habit, disturb it. Interrupt it. Trick it. I had to get myself into a position where I just did not want to smoke. Not because I knew I shouldn't, but simply because I didn't have any desire to smoke any longer.

On January 2, 1979, at about 10:00 p.m., in a beer bar in Reseda, CA, after not having an urge to smoke for perhaps a month or more, I picked up a cigarette and took two drags from it. I started to cough and get nauseated, the way I did when I very first started to smoke at fourteen.

I looked at the cigarette, and then at myself in the bar mirror and realized...I had DONE IT! After nearly two decades of living almost daily with a smoke at hand, I did not want that cigarette and have never wanted one again. I was no longer a smoker!

And I did it without willpower or struggle. Or patches or pills or shots or gum or vitamins or herbs or any device whatsoever. I just figured it out. I "unlearned" how to smoke.

In 1996, my daughter admitted to me that she'd been a smoker for about twenty years and was trying desperately to quit. I told her that I would write down for her the things I'd done, and how I did them, so that she could do them and quit too.

Each night after work, before dinner, I'd come to my computer and write on this letter to her about how to quit smoking. Finally after perhaps a week of this, my wife said to me, "What are you doing, writing her a book?"

I realized I was. I finished it, formatted it into chapters, designed a simple cover, and had it bound at Kinko's. I made a couple of copies.

I sent it to her, and she used it, and did quit.

I showed my book to a friend, an ex-smoker whom I consider to be very intelligent and insightful. After he read it, he immediately handed me the money to create PresMark Publishing Co., open this website, and begin to share this information with the world.

So for the last nearly four years, that's what we've been doing here. If you really want to quit for good, and "cold turkey" is as hard to do for you as it was for me, and the pills or patches don't help much, buy my book, read it, and use it. If you don't see a remarkable reduction in your smoking during the first month, Just send it back. (Or in the case of the eBook, just email me and tell me you weren't successful with the system.) I'll give you your money back (less shipping). If you use it fully and consistently and are still smoking next year, I'll give you your money back, including shipping...TRIPLE! (See Guarantee.)
signatur.gif (6945 bytes)
Mark Whalen

We are pleased that "How to Quit Smoking Without Willpower or Struggle" is now being read and used in the following cities and countries outside the USA. If you would like to contact someone who has purchased and used this book, and you live in or near one of the places listed below, please email us and we will contact that party and put you in touch with them.

Torrens Park, SOUTH AUSTRALIA
Perth, WESTERN AUSTRALIA
(and many other cities too numerous to list throughout Australia) British Columbia, CANADA
(and many other cities too numerous to list throughout Canada)

St. Maarten, Neth. Antilles, CARIBBEAN Istanbul, TURKEY

Paphos, CYPRUS Manila, PHILIPPINES

Vienna, AUSTRIA Serzedo, Porto, PORTUGAL

Tokyo, JAPAN Johanneshov, SWEDEN

Richmond/Nelson, NEW ZEALAND Seoul, SOUTH KOREA

Sandefjord and Bergen, NORWAY Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, ISRAEL

Shinrone, County Offaly and Wexford, IRELAND Bagsvaerd, DENMARK

Beersel and Gistel, BELGIUM Belgrade, SERBIA

Barcelona and Alicante, SPAIN Leeds and Surrey Guildford, ENGLAND

Urumqi, Xinjiang, CHINA Mexico City, MEXICO

Gauteng, Pretoria, Faure and West Cape, SOUTH AFRICA Sharjah, ABU DHABI (United Arab Emirates)

Padova, ITALY Woodlands East Industrial Estate, SINGAPORE

Seengen, SWITZERLAND Bihar, INDIA

Jaderberg, Cologne and Bochum, GERMANY Vacaria, Rio Grande do Sul, BRAZIL

Kuala Lumpur, MALAYSIA Guatemala City, GUATEMALA

Amsterdam, HOLLAND Papua, NEW GUINEA

What They Are Saying

The following are just a few direct quotes from those who have purchased and used "How to Quit Smoking Without Willpower or Struggle". Those names that appear as links are hyperlinked to an email address which they have allowed to be published so that anyone may contact them for verification. For those quotes that have no mail link, you may contact us directly by email, and we shall pass your request on to that user so that they may contact you directly to verify the quote.

Dearest Mark,

Last April I wrote to you about my struggle with nicotine....30+ years of the habit and drug. I bought your book and tried to incorporate your program into my life so that I would no longer be addicted.

Let me say first that your personal response to my email touched me beyond words. (4/30/00). Actually it made me cry. I felt your caring and concern, and you said the exact right words that I needed to hear at the time. For that I would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Second- please know that as of 8/30/00 I have been smoke-free!!!!!!!! I am no longer a smoker....I do not smoke.....I am what I call "smokeless." It is because of people like you that made this miracle possible.

Thank you for believing in me and thank you for caring and identifying with the struggle from hell!

In closing I want to thank you once again - please take comfort in knowing that you made a significant difference in my life for which I will always be eternally grateful.

Carole Yevoli
Old Bethpage, NY

I am a clinical psychologist who has been into hypnosis for almost 30 yrs. I have found it a valuable tool for many problems but not for smoking cessation. I think that is mainly because people expect an hypnotic session or even several to do the job for them. That doesn't work in my experience in most cases because I believe the patient has not become adequately prepared to make the decision to quit. I have struggled with how to get them to engage in that preparation without notable success.

Now that I have obtained a copy of your book about quitting I think that it could serve as excellent preparation for helping the patient to take the steps to quit. Maybe hypnosis wouldn't even be necessary, but I think it could supplement and reinforce the messages in your book and help the person generalize the accomplishment of quitting smoking to other habits and possibly other problems. . . . I have several patients who are struggling to quit and I would be delighted to help them accomplish that goal.

I think your assessment of the problem really hits the nail on the head. I am going to use your book as part of my treatment program so that I can assist more people to really stop smoking.

Arnold Freedman, Ph.D., New York, NY

"This book is well written. I enjoyed it very much. I haven't quit entirely but this is the most effective literature I've found on quitting yet. This is a very effective book. It made me reflect about a lot of different things and see several things in a new perspective (e.g. smoke as a poison, the way non-smokers view smokers, etc.) I gave this book to several friends and relatives who are trying to quit as a gift."

Name and address withheld by request

"I think it is a great system, it is the only remedy which works with the smoker than others which offer momentary solutions."

Franco Fernandes, Miami, FL

"I bought your book some two weeks ago, and already I have smoked my last cigarette. I won't ever smoke again. While using your book I made some discoveries about myself and about how addictions work and I thought I should share them with you, since it was your book that brought me to these discoveries and they might be useful to others.

When I started to analyze my behavior and its imagined payoffs it seemed to me that the there was a "spiritual" component to it beside the chemical and habitual. Before this I had thought that it was a matter of chemical addiction or psychological factors triggering habitual responses though now I see that there is more to it. Or rather, the psychology of addiction is more profound than I first thought.

We are all in search of something, though we are rarely aware of it. Some would call it God or Nirvana, in psychology its usually considered to be a desire to be "back in the womb", to once again be one with or mommies. The drug addict is searching for the wonderful first high, as if he could find what he needs in a chemical. Some search in sex, others lead their lives by the book so they don't have to think. We do it all to escape from a feeling hidden deep in our consciousness, a feeling that is very painful for most. We feel that we don't belong here, we don't feel at home and we don't feel very welcome.

The fact that we see others smoke makes us believe that they have found it, or at least that there is something to be found. However when we try it our selves we find nothing but nausea. But of course, the path to heaven is a hard one, we think while we set out on another fruitless search. The more we smoke the more we invest in our search. The more we have invested the harder it is to let go. "Maybe its the next one, maybe the next cigarette will open the gates of heaven" thus the craving for "just one more".

As these thoughts came to me the first time, I became aware of this feeling, like a whale swimming beneath the surface of my mind, and I began to meditate and think about it. I accepted that I don't feel like I belong, that inside my mind I am alone, no matter how many good friends I have. There is a proverb in Zen that goes: Accept, adapt and overcome.

Now, whenever I feel the need for a smoke, I just tell my self:"Whatever It is that I need, I won't find it in the cigarette. I have all I need inside of me." and it craving disappears. Acceptance is the key.

I hope this makes sense to you, its hard to describe complex matters as these in a foreign language.

Thank you, and good luck with future editions."

"Jocke", Joakim Kärrström, Johanneshov, Sweden

"I felt that it was (is) very valuable as it is proactive, i.e you actively work to give up rather than a bunch of other passive systems, patch, gum etc. You also don't feel like you're trying to keep the "monster" at bay. You're almost slowly but firmly ushering it out the door."

Jason Dunne, Gauteng, South Africa

"While reading the book, I knew the minute I read about switching from my brand to a menthol brand that this was going to work! Just the 'thought' made me sick to my stomach - for those 2 days, I smoked because it's a habit and the addiction, but I didn't enjoy the taste and smell of the menthols. The last evening I smoked, I didn't mind putting out the last cig because I didn't feel like they were my friends anymore."

Barbara Oatley, Westchester, OH

"I had started using it, even got a friend to start. (I'm going to try to get my mother to use it...) It was a bit much to constantly count the cigs, but it's the only way to get a true/real grasp on your habit. ... I can't stand to be around smoke now! I have no urge to have one, and can't stand the smell! I'm still trying to figure out how I tolerated it for so long! I find it completely disgusting. I'm probably just as offended by it as someone that never smoked!"

Dawn Lawson, Hudson, New York, NY

"I was amazed at how it enabled me to cut out all of the "unnecessary" cigarettes."

James Patronite, Jr., Pico Rivera, CA

"I have received your wonderful book. One thing you said ? was that everyone made the decision to smoke as a child. What an eye-opener!! I started at 12 to be like my sister ? But I am a highly additive personality and was hooked after smoking 2 packs of Marlboro in about 7 hours. I was sick after, and when I got up Monday, I wanted a cigarette, BAD!

"I am definitely ready to quit paying for the privilege of not only killing myself, but of the filth that comes with this habit, the inconvenience, and all the excuses for keeping it up. YES, you are right, it should be easier to quit than to start. I am ... counting my smokes and am smoking less every day. How odd? The way you put the entire act of quitting is so intelligent and encouraging.

Carol McEver , Fresno, California
An (almost) ex-smoker

PS Can't wait til the day I am offered a cigarette and can say "no thank you, I don't smoke."

FIVE WEEKS LATER:

Dear Mark,

Guess what? I am so close to my last cigarette....that it might just be today. I want each one less and less, and haven't had any desire to have one yet today.

Wanted to let you know that I have been receiving much email in response to my testimonial on your site.

Everyone wants to know about the book and when I got it and how I have done. I am telling them that it is working for me and they should try it too!

Thank you again and I hope you become a millionaire for your efforts in helping people.

Carol McEver
http://listen.to/theanimals

NEXT>>

Visits to this page since May 26, 2000
Hit Counter