My friend Pat Phelan has decided to quit smoking. Congratulations Pat for entering the rest of your life. He says new gadgets that will help him focused. I say all that is great, but the reality is that it is going to take supreme will power. I wanted to share a little story with Pat and rest of you about smoking.

Prior to 2008 if you met me, then like Pat you found me outside, with a pack of Dunhill’s and smoking like a chimney. I would go through between 20-to-60 coffin nails every day. My clothes smelled of nicotine and Armani. I couldn’t walk 50 feet, forget running a 100 meters. And then one fine day, I got a massive kick-in-the-pants from Life and poof…

One of the toughest things in my life I have done is give up smoking. It is been almost two years since I have been clean — and today after smoking for over 25 years — I detest the smell of the cigarette smoke. I was forced to quit smoking: if I didn’t, I would be dead.

Now they say that the chemical dependency on nicotine is actually pretty short lived and it is the “mental association” with the act of smoking that is a bitch to beat. And they are right. I broke the mental association with smoking with a nifty little trick my doctors at UCSF taught me: every time I craved a cigarette, I was to drink a glass of water. Water is good for our bodies. Of course, the more I craved smokes, the more water I drank and eventually more I had to go to the bathroom. In about a month or so, I replaced the “idea” of smoking a cigarette with the act of drinking water. I have never looked back since.

Pat, dear friend that story is a tip to help you succeed in your no-smoking quest. And if there is anytime you want to talk to me, just call me, tweet me or Skype me. I know you can do it. More importantly you don’t have a choice. You have a lovely family and a lot of friends who want to see you live a healthy, smoke free life. Good luck.