Hi MLMR--
I, too, struggled with serial failed quits, and I know how discouraging it feels. Realizing that my approach wasn't working, I decided to take a more radical approach: instead of "just" quitting, I decided to situate quitting in the larger project of GETTING HEALTHY. This included significant changes to my diet and a really serious fitness program, which gave me lots of positive, proactive things to think and learn about instead of obsessing over the thing I was ostensibly denying myself. In addition, I hoped that these new activities would accelerate the process of seeing myself as a non-smoker, creating another line of defense during those inevitable moments of vulnerability. While this new approach certainly didn't make quitting easy, it made it possible for me; I'm forever grateful that I tried it. It's probably true that I went a little overboard with the diet and exercise during that first year, but many years later I'm still convinced that this was the way it needed to be for me.
My point really isn't to encourage you to adopt my method (though it's worth thinking about); instead, I'm sharing it as an example of doing something(s) different. What would a different set of actions look like for you? Shifting the emphasis to practice--and pretty radical practice at that--as opposed to how I was thinking about cigarettes really helped me.
We know you can do it!
Christian99
23+ Years Quit