Welcome ... I am Richard Terry Lovelace.

The following are my – soon, I hope, to be your – simple seven keys to getting and staying free of nicotine.

They surfaced during nearly four decades of health care service offered to 17,000 adult smokers. My years of personal experience smoking cigarettes helped make sense of what those folks taught me.To them I say, "Thank you."

To create the greatest possible benefit for yourself, return to this Web page and review these keys for most of the next 21 days and safely do what's recommended instead of taking in any nicotine at all.

Have you ever not wanted to smoke but did it anyway?

Nicotine smokers who aren't yet successful — whether they realize it or not — make the honest but crucial mistake of making this their objective: not wanting to smoke, dip, chew, or patch the deadly drug, nicotine. More experienced smokers easily understand (when someone finally tells them) that not wanting to smoke doesn't work because it absolutely didn't help. There were many times they didn't want to but sucked smoke anyway.

Everyone who's getting free of nicotine sometimes wants to smoke. Those who stay free of it - without substituting alcohol or adding fat - are those who are unwilling to do it and hurt themselves and anyone who does now or will someday depend on them.

With that exceedingly important objective in mind, here is the first of the simple seven keys: (Use them only with the knowledge and encouragement of your physician.)

1. Please get rid of all nicotine that you identify as yours. Either flush it or give it to someone you seriously dislike. Then begin to do the remaining six keys.

Avoid doing the remaining six if you are still using any nicotine. Also, avoid doing them if you temporarily go back to nicotine. If you continued to apply the simple steps or keys, you could weaken them so they would be less useful later when you are ready to begin again.

2. This second key and number 6 do the most to subtly but very powerfully change the unknown and untrue nicotine notions that are at the heart of using the drug. This key or step makes those changes without you having to keep in mind what the attitudes are. Here it is:

The words we commonly use reflect attitudes. Purposefully and persistently substituting with different words snuffs-out, extinguishes, sufficiently weakens the hurtful and unknown (not your fault) 'butt-attitudes' or 'nicotine notions.'

So when you think about nicotine avoid using certain words just as much as you can. Those what I call "quitter quote words" to avoid are:

"quit"

"give up"

"stop"

"habit."

Instead of thinking those, substitute words like:

"free" — For example, "I am free of smoking." ('Quitting' or 'giving up' deeply implies failure. 'Stopping' anything subtly suggests 'starting' again.)

"get rid of" — "I'm getting rid of smoking ... for good."

"puffing butts" — "Instead of a habit, using nicotine is puffing butts and cigarettes are buttsuckers."

3. Key number three: Keep a spice called "whole clove," with you and take advantage of it in a special way. Clove has in it a natural and safe compound that with practice takes away or reduces the desire and craving for nicotine. Have plenty of it nearby always – day and night.

Whole clove is the cooking and pickling spice that some people stick in fresh oranges during the winter holidays because it makes a pleasant smell. You find whole clove in the spice section of any grocery store.

Around those times and about as often as you smoked before ... take out a whole clove. As you put the stem of the clove to your mouth, repeatedly say to yourself, "This helps. This helps. This helps." You don't need to say it aloud or even be sure of what you mean by saying "this helps." Just be sure to say it two or more times to yourself as often as you remember when you use the clove. Avoid worrying about it if sometimes you forget to say the words. It still works.

Use the whole clove much as you did nicotine. Hold the clove in your fingers most of the time. At approximately the same rhythm or pace you put cigarettes (buttsuckers) to your mouth before, put the clove there and suck the stem just a little before taking it away. Some people don't care for the taste or smell of clove. It works even better for people who don't care for it but use it anyway.

If you dipped or chewed nicotine, chew one or two whole cloves into some gum. Then only chew occasionally. Most of the time, just let it rest in your mouth.

Some people have essentially said, "That's right much effort using the cloves that way ... and besides, wouldn't that look kinda silly?" I respectfully answer with, "It is less effort than using nicotine and that was hurting you. Using the clove is safe, temporary and you look far less unusual than when you used nicotine."

4. The forth key helps avoid adding weight or another hurtful substitute: As a substitute for needless snacking or 'junk' food, chew a small piece of a clove into some gum ... preferably sugarless gum. Then only chew occasionally. Primarily let the gum — with clove in it — rest in your mouth. Please keep from eating the cloves. I have recommended them to many thousands of smokers and haven't heard that they ever harmed anyone, but there is no need to test it.

Please take extra care if drinking alcohol. It temporarily weakens the willpower you build by countering nicotine notions. If you drink alcohol or caffeine, have in your mouth the gum with clove in it.

5. Key number five: Most times – when you put a clove to your mouth – take at least two breaths in a special way. That means you breath iN mostly through your Nose and do it to a slow count of five. But count backward, "five ... four ... three ... two ... one." Hold each consecutive (one after the other) breath just a moment and then breath OUT, mostly through your mOUTh, to another slow five-count. Again, do a countdown from five to one.

6. The sixth key: Listen to or practice self-hypnosis ... one or more times each day and for at least three weeks. Avoid doing that when driving or doing anything else that requires your attention or your eyes open.

Do something simple such as take deep slow breaths (as described above) and imagine something familiar. For example, imagine a gauge like the fuel gauge on a car. This gauge has numbers from five to one. The number one (can be spelled WON) represents you emptied of any willingness to use nicotine. With each deep slow breath you take, think of the pointer already at the number 'WON' on the gauge or moving closer and closer to the number one ... until there and locked in place.

7. This is the seventh step or key and can be the most important. As much as you can and are willing, avoid talking to anyone (other than your medical doctor) or discussions about smoking (dipping, chewing, etc.) or being free of it. Keep from telling about how well you are doing and what you're doing that's working for you to stay free of buttPuffing. Do that for at least the first three weeks ... much longer, if at all possible.

Talking about smoking, dipping, chewing, patching, inhaling or spraying nicotine in any way or what's being done to stay free of it promotes using it. That's much of the reason why there are so few AA-type groups for former or current nicotine users. If you get a group of former smokers together to talk about it, some will leave and start 'buttPuffing' again.

Any time and if you need to, please email me. Email_richard@truthforhealthyliving.org. Take terrific care of yourself.

You and the people who depend on you staying healthy are worth any possible effort!

Richard Terry Lovelace, Ph.D., MSW (master of social work) is in clinical practice with Winston Clinical Associates - 336-722-7300 - Winston-Salem, North Carolina USA

Dr. Lovelace is mostly retired from clinical practice and no longer sees new patients who need more than one or two sessions. Now devoted primarily to this not-for-money public health service . . . he rarely writes for others. Those publishers included John Wiley & Sons, McGraw-Hill, Self (magazine), Clinical Laboratory Management Association, Counselor Magazine for Addiction Professionals and Business Life magazine.

Email_richard@truthforhealthyliving.org

NFSS-Track1.mp3 Don't listen to this one when driving or doing anything else you need to keep your eyes open for and be alert. It teaches some self-calming skills and helps you to more constructively focus.

NFSS-Track2.mp3 Listen to this track all at once or in parts. Listen when driving and any other time you can safely.

NFSS-Track3.mp3 This is a copy of the recorded "Simple Seven Keys" offered above.