Behavior coach Jay Shaw argues that quitting smoking isn't about willpower but about becoming a non-smoker. He breaks down three shifts: changing what you tell yourself about cigarettes, rewiring your body's response to them, and rewriting the story that smoking is relaxation.
I tell people all the time, technically I'm a behaviorist, but I don't work on behavior because I understand that what gives birth to your behavior is your identity. I don't got to work on your behavior. I got to shift your identity. If you come to me and say, Coach Jay, can you hypnotize me to quit smoking? What you're really asking me is, can I help you build you an identity that doesn't smoke? It's not about making you quit smoking. It's about changing the internal dialogue around cigarettes. It's about changing your somatic identity with cigarettes. It's about changing your story of cigarettes. Right now, your story of cigarettes might be cigarettes help me relax.
