There is an almost uncountable number of more or less different stop smoking aids available. There is nicotine patches and nicotine chewing gums, e-book and paper books, hypnosis and other psychological strategies, electronic cigarettes, software ... the list goes on and on.

But are they all really working? And more importantly: which one is working for you? 

Unfortunately there is no formula that can tell you which stop smoking aid will lead YOU to success. We all are individuals, and consequently what works perfectly well for one person, will only lead to frustration and failure for others.

Nonetheless, knowing a little bit about what is available can greatly help in deciding, what might work best for you. Let me try and give you a little stop smoking help and let us have a look at the various aids available.

There is a whole range of products on the market that are supposed to help you quitting which contain some sort of nicotine or other chemical substance. You either consume those substances orally (nicotine chewing gums for instance) or through your epidermis (nicotine patches).

In my humble opinion, those products take you on a very odd road on your journey to a life free of smoke. What makes me say so? If you are addicted to cigarettes you are so because your body makes you believe you cannot go on without giving it certain substances. In our case, this is primarily nicotine.

So one of the main problems a smoker faces is being dependent on a substance. Isn't it sort of strange then to simply replace that substance with another one? Isn't it even more strange to not even replace that substance, but to simply change the way you bring it into your body - as it is the case with nicotine chewing gums and patches.

Of course, a nicotine patch or gums are a lot less harmful to your health. After all you do not poison your body with all those other unhealthy things contained in tobacco smoke. This doesn't - however - change the fact that you will simply replace one form addiction with another one. What will you do when you run out of nicotine chewing gums? In a world where cigarettes are so easily available, won't you run to the next store that sells them?

A friend of mine actually managed to quit using patches - to this day I cannot get rid of the impression that he managed to do so despite and not because of them.

I agree, warfare might sound a little bit too catchy here. And still, one of the biggest opponents a person trying to quit is facing is the voice in their mind which keeps telling them that they absolutely need a cigarette. Now!

This voice is a cunning enemy - he knows all the dirty tricks of the trade. Just think about it: who else is clever enough to convince you that something helps you in any kind of situation ... no matter whether those situations are on a total opposite position?

Feel hungry? Have a smoke! Just finished your dinner and your belly is full? Have a smoke!

Bored? Have a smoke! Too much excitement or stress? Have a smoke?

Happy? Sad? Early in the day? Late at night? Too dark outside? Too much sun? Cold? Warm? Sweet? Sour? Have! A! Smoke!

Don't fool yourself, this is nothing but mummery. This little devil is using every card available up his sleeve and there is only one way to win against him: psychological warfare. The hardest thing about this is: you mostly have to fight it alone. Still, there are ways to prepare yourself for the upcoming battles.

There are a gazillion of books out there that deal with one or the other technique that is supposed to help you quitting. Most of them are garbage. One book that apparently helped literally thousands is Carr's excellent 'Easy Way' (as a sidenote: this is what helped me the first time I managed to go on as a non-smoker for more than a year).

The biggest problem with books is that you sooner or later will be finished reading them. As with any other type of book, after a while its contents will lose its freshness. So you either read the book over and over again until it is imprinted into your brain, or you read several books dealing with quitting smoking. Make them a part of your daily lecture and always have one with you.