Nowhere in the chapter do I see anything written about the addicting qualities of nicotine, that would make it any easier to anyone to quit!  So, I wrote a review, and said, " I didn't think the book was all that great", and I got into trouble!!!  I had people writing me and saying, "What do you mean nicotine is not addictive, it's a DRUG, there is all this scientific yada, yada, yada".

Well, that is not exactly what I said in my book review.  What I say to my clients is, "The word addiction really doesn't work equally as well with cocaine and heroin and nicotine.  There are some really significant differences.  For example, if you tie a heroin addict down in a chair for 12 hours they are going to be getting sick, having shakes and withdrawals, and really having a hard time of it.  Now, the smoker on the other hand will just probably go, 'Wow, I am really bored'. They are not going to get sick and go through the withdrawal symptoms.  We all know about the last time someone robbed a local convenience store and shot up the place just so that they could steal a pack of cigarettes because they were having withdrawals and just couldn't stand it."

So what happened was that there were these people who were incensed to think that I didn't think that nicotine was addictive.  They were quoting scientific research, as a matter of fact Gil Boyne, a lot of you know the name, and I wrote back and forth, and corresponded very cordially about the issue of nicotine addiction.  Gil wrote, "Research shows the brain has some changes very similar to that of the heroin addict, in those who use nicotine". 

Somebody else wrote and said, " See, there is stuff there showing that nicotine is addicting".

I responded by writing back, "The significant thing in Gil's article is that they are similar, not identical.  I am just saying that there is a difference.  As a matter of fact after I talk to my clients for about 5 or 10 minutes about the addiction notions that they have, they tell me that they are not addicted. I didn't tell them that, they tell me, because there is a real difference."
So why do I make that distinction?, Because if they are thinking in their minds that they are addicted, it makes it harder for them to quit tobacco use.  If they think that cigarettes and nicotine are "6 times more addictive than heroin", which, by the way, is the official party line for someone in the scientific community, then how is that going to affect there ability to quit smoking, at the snap of a finger?

As a matter of fact, I helped someone to quit smoking in under 5 minutes. It was an unusual experience and I'll take a side trip on that one for a minute.  I asked them "What is the most important thing for you in life?"  They gestured, then looked at a spot up and to their left, and said, "My health". 

"When you smoke a cigarette, what is the most important thing in the world at that time?"  They looked higher than that and said, "Oh, the smoking". So what I did was grabbed the picture of the smoking and grabbed the picture of good health and went. (Making a sound like gushing wind). I switched them, the cigarettes at the bottom and the health at the top and left them there. and said to the person, "Are you going to smoke again?"

They looked blank and went, "Ahh, ahh, No".  Then it took me 20 minutes to convince the conscious mind that we were done. Then there were a few other little other things that I took care of to be thorough. 

Back to the topic at hand.  We think about beliefs and they tend to be very solid, these are things that people tend to hold onto, but they really are valuations and ideas about reality.  It is not reality itself.  Which means if we get them to change the words that they use to encompass a belief, by using our language properly, with impact and precision, we can get them to change that belief in an instant.

So, who here has a limiting belief that they would like to get rid of. I know it is going to be a hard one for a bunch of hypnotherapists, but I am sure someone has a limiting belief that is holding them back a bit.

Wesley: No, I am sorry it doesn't work when the husband says "do the wife".  She has to volunteer. Nope, we don't take those.  So, who has a limiting belief, that they wouldn't mind just playing with a little bit?  Ok, come on up.  Continue...