Plan or no plan?

[Ankush]

@Sazerac To clarify - I'm not against Joel in any way. In fact, it was his videos inspired me to go cold turkey, and I'm grateful for his videos. I did say it was a great video. Also, I do think, since he makes the videos, they will all have his own words. I didn't mean that in any negative way.

[greenlight]

4 minutes ago, Sazerac said:

Joel gets this shit all the time. It is ridiculous.

An oncologist doesn't have to have cancer in order to help a patient

just as a psychiatrist doesn't have to be a sociopath to help a sociopath or a psychopath for that matter.

They are learned professionals, just like Mr. Spitzer.

 

Please, take what you need a leave the rest.

There is no reason to disparage a man who has committed his life to help people quit smoking and has helped so many.

  

 

This is an interesting point actually, and I agree with it. Why do we expect the people that are the best qualified to give us advice to be ex-smokers? Yeah, personal experience is second to none. But is it necessary? Just like you pointed out you don’t have to be a psychopath to become a good psychiatrist.

 

Maybe we should just focus on wise words as opposed to who said them.

[Sazerac]

I didn't think you were disparaging Joel, Ankush.

You were very clear which was v. appreciated.

I was responding to the other poster.

 

Again, sorry for the mixup, @Ankush !

We have to stop meeting like this, lol.

[Whispers]

4 minutes ago, Sazerac said:

Joel gets this shit all the time. It is ridiculous.

An oncologist doesn't have to have cancer in order to help a patient

just as a psychiatrist doesn't have to be a sociopath to help a sociopath or a psychopath for that matter.

They are learned professionals, just like Mr. Spitzer.

 

Please, take what you need a leave the rest.

There is no reason to disparage a man who has committed his life to help people quit smoking and has helped so many.

  

I have an opinion and I'll voice it about quitting smoking. Go into a meeting with a serious drug addiction and tell the cocaine addict how to stop never having used. Joel isn't a DR. I dont have to accept it because you tell me. That's how his site is run, if they use NRT/relapse they cant post. I think its wrong and that's my opinion and I'll voice it. If you don't like it, i don't care

[Ankush]

4 minutes ago, Sazerac said:

sorry for the mixup

@Sazerac That's OK. P.S. - this is why I mention the name of the person I'm addressing over text/chat/comments online. It just makes the conversation clearer and avoids misunderstanding.

[Sazerac]

@Ankush, you are SO right.  Thank you for the reminder.  I appreciate it.

[Whispers]

@Ankush Plan or no plan, there is no one way. Whatever works , some of gave you our success and both ways. A plan works

[Sazerac]

@Whispers

lol.  nobody would ever hire me as a moderator.  funny.

 

I am a proponent of cold turkey only because cold turkey is my experience

and I know that you don't need a plan to quit

because I quit, almost six years ago on a whim.

 

Over these years I have supported ALL kinds of quits,

I believe the community will back me up on this.

How one quits, matters not.

ALL quits are good quits. 

 

Please, there is no reason for your vitriol towards me or, Joel or, anybody here.

This is a kind and supportive place where we may have different views or techniques in conquering our addiction,  

but, at the end of the day, we are on the same side.

 

Here is MQ's post on the subject of Joel Spitzer

 

MarylandQuitter

By endurance we conquer

Administrators

 Posted January 27, 2018

 

Joel ASKED me if he could join up and cautioned me that his presence could cause some discord. 

He then asked me how much I wanted him to post to which I told him he could post as often as he would like to. 

After all, when you Google how to quit smoking (or related searches) Joel's materials are always at the top of search results

so why not allow (not that he ever needed my permission) him to post here? 

It would be insane not to, as his materials have helped masses of people from all over the world quit smoking.

 

The notion that his materials are insignificant or somehow illegitimate because he never smoked is preposterous. 

The psychiatrist who successfully treats patients doesn't have the prerequisite to have had the same disorder

in which he/she is treating in order to see results. 

He or she only has to have empathy, experience, knowledge and most importantly, the data which shows efficacy of treatments. 

Through the many clinics that Joel ran through the American Cancer Society and on his own,

he gained a vast and invaluable collection of data which came directly from smokers over the course of decades. 

He, like the Dr. helping a person cope with the devastation caused by a divorce, losing a job, a spouse or a child

does not have to have experienced the same to help the patient. 

You know who spoke truth to me about my drug addiction to nicotine? 

My Dr.  He never smoked a day in his life yet he knew about this addiction and what it would take for me to quit. 

He steered me to a place to get help which led me to Joel's materials.

 

Lastly, those who mentioned that his posts were spam ought to be ashamed of yourselves. 

Spam is profit driven or driven for some other nefarious purpose.  Joel has never made a dime from any of his materials. 

His time spent here behind the scenes before he ever joined was free.  He has a desire to help people quit smoking and stay quit. 

He's never asked for anything and to assume that he posts to drive people to YouTube or elsewhere is bananas. 

Do you not realize that ALL of Joel's videos were posted on this site long before he ever joined?? 

If click bait were the case, he would have never allowed me to do this. 

He encourages anybody to use his materials with the goal of helping people save their lives. 

Talking about inflicting bodily harm to Joel because of efforts is very telling of where some people are at.

 

Should it get asked, QT is funded solely by me; always has and always will be. 

Nothing on this site came to me as free as I have to retain programmers,

designers, pay for licensing of the software etc. 

Moreoever, QuitTrain is a Registered Trademark which was also not free,

but imperative to the longevity of something that myself and few others created (the Moderators) and what was created is protected.

  I allow no advertisements and don't take donations etc., even though I've been asked to. 

Hell, I don't even allow Facebook logins because in case you didn't know, when sites allow this,

they gain access to your friend list and can send adverts etc. to which I want NO PART OF. 

I share the same desire as Joel and my moderators to freely give time and money to help ANYBODY quit smoking and stay quit. 

To this, you do not have the right to make false accusations regarding the motives of those who take their time and money

to help complete strangers save their lives by quitting this deadly addiction.

 

Joel will not be posting here and that is his choice. 

However, he will still be in daily or weekly contact with me as he has for several years now. 

He has lots to offer and ways to help and I am always grateful for this.

 

 

 

 

Edited July 2, 2019 by Sazerac

[Boo]

I'm a former smoker who successfully quit.  I've also been a member of this forum for over three years now.  As Yogi Berra said: "You can observe a lot by just watching."

 

In my time here, I've developed a thesis...feels like I just might have cracked the code.

 

What if I told you there was one secret that every successful quitter used to set themselves free from cigarettes...

 

Ready for it?  This is groundbreaking stuff right here...Every quitter who has enjoyed a successful quit committed to stop putting cigarettes in their mouth and setting them on fire.

 

Some made a plan; some quit on an impulse.  Some went cold turkey while others used NRT and still others used Chantix/Champix.  Some read and did research; others relied on intuition.

 

The one unifying common thread in every successful quit comes back to the decision that was made to not put a cigarette in your mouth and light it on fire.  Everything else is supplementary to the one big decision(the aforementioned rule of not putting a cigarette in your mouth and lighting it on fire).

 

Quitting smoking is not judged like an Olympic diving meet, you don't get bonus points for making things more difficult.

 

Don't lose sight of the big picture and keep it simple.

[Martian5]

^^^^^^^  Boo I could not have said it better -- Spot On.  Thank you!!!!!