CBQ Spotlights

Happy “Spotlight Day”! Get ready to feel inspired with this week’s most empowering stories and tips from the CBQ community!

Tip of the Week

This week’s tip comes from CBQ Program member Paula Beck Ashley from California, US, who has been smoke-free for 8 months. Paula used to smoke for 50 years! She decided to detox nicotine “cold turkey”, and by following the CBQ Method she now does not miss smoking at all!

This is what Paula recently shared with our free CBQ Method group:

Paula’s tip: The secret is mindpower, not willpower.

“Start watching the videos from CBQ Method. I am now a Happy Non Smoker for 8 months. I don’t miss smoking at all! It’s as easy, or as hard to quit, as you make it. You need to use mind power instead of will power. Good luck and reach out to this group as needed. We are here to support each other.”

If you wish to receive my free email series and get 7 mindpower tips from the CBQ Method to help you quit smoking, click here.

Inspiring Milestone

This week, CBQ Program member Cheryl Ammar from Alberta, Canada, celebrated 2 years smoke-free! For the longest time, Cheryl believed she could not quit or be happy without cigarettes. But after joining the CBQ Program, she quit smoking easily!

Not only she succeeded, but she inspired her two daughters who both quit vaping!

“I’m proud to be one of CBQ’s success stories and can’t tell enough smokers how easy it is to quit with this program! I was also a shadow believer that I could never quit, was not strong enough, smart enough or couldn’t be happy without smoking. But I kept progressing through the program and little by little my subconscious was transformed to BELIEVE that I COULD quit! All of a sudden I started to focus on my life after I quit, and wanted to start that life more than I wanted to smoke poisonous cigarettes! It is a process but keep going and it is much, much easier than anyone believes you can do it!!”

This is the beautiful Cheryl with her CBQ Success Certificate:

Inspiring Success: He Quit Smoking after 65 Years

This week, CBQ Program member Lee Tagg from Maryland, US, celebrated 6 months smoke-free. What’s most impressive, is that Lee was a smoker for 65 years!

After following every step of the CBQ Program, Lee quit smoking and believes quitting was too easy to be real!

This is what he shared about the CBQ Program:

As always, I want to say a huge thank you to our amazing CBQ Program members who have given me permission to share their stories!

Happy “Spotlight Day”! I think you’ll love this week’s most inspiring stories from the CBQ community!

Inspiring Couple

This week, Carson and Chris Lammers from Tennessee, US, celebrated together 1 year smoke-free! Carson and Chris had been smoking all their lives, and cigarettes had become a part of their relationship: the time they shared and the conversations they had. Carson and Chris were both unhappy about being smokers, yet they couldn’t quit. They “made some weak attempts over the years to quit, once with vaping and several times with willpower, but we always relapsed.” One day, Carson and Chris found the CBQ webinar, and despite being afraid and skeptical, they decided to join the CBQ Program. They succeeded, and one year later, they’re still smoke-free and happy!

This is Carson and Chris with their CBQ success certificates, that they took during their anniversary trip to St. Lucia in the Caribbean.

Carson shares, “I like to call my picture “Put the Mountain Behind You,” because that’s what it felt like to conquer my addiction.” 🎊

Carson’s quit smoking tip: make a real decision.

“In the CBQ Program, I made a decision as part of the teaching instruction. That led to me being able to quit smoking, and I gained newfound confidence because I had actually done what I decided to do. The “make a decision” technique has helped me so much in other areas of my life besides smoking. We are forever grateful! Carson and Chris”

Inspiring Milestone: 6 Years

Two days ago, CBQ Program member Elinor Fibel from South Carolina, US, celebrated 6 years smoke-free! Elinor used to smoke 2 and a half packs a day for 55 years. She tried all stop smoking approaches – pills, nicotine gum, hypnosis and pure willpower – more than once.

After coming across the CBQ Program online, she thought it was something different and decided to join and give it her all….She succeeded!

This is Elinor holding her CBQ Success Certificate:

You can watch Elinor sharing her story in this Ask An Ex interview:

As always, I want to say a huge thank you to our amazing CBQ Program members who have given me permission to share their stories!

Happy “Spotlight Day”! This is the first Thursday of November, and I’m excited to share with you this week’s most inspiring success stories and tips from the CBQ community.

Inspiring Story

A few days ago, CBQ Program member Sarah Tawil-Bou Saleh from New York, US, posted this update in our members community:

She’s 4 years smoke-free!

Sarah’s first dream was to quit smoking and gift herself a bright smile. Her second dream was to help her mom quit smoking as well. Both of her dreams came true!

Inspiring Milestone

This week, CBQ Program member Debra Arena from Pennsylvania, US, celebrated 3 years smoke-free. Debra was an avid smoker for 30 years and tried every approach to quit. For years, every one of her quit smoking attempts ended in panic and failure.

But after completing the CBQ Program, Debra quit and found it easy.

To this day, 3 years later, Debra still has no desire to smoke!

This is Debra with her CBQ Success Certificate:

Tip of the Week: How to think about Mindpower

This week’s tip comes from CBQ Program member Michal Sturgess from New South Wales, Australia, who has been smoke-free since September 27, 2022.

Michal explains one of the key and coined CBQ Method concepts: mindpower

“I think of mind power as the observer. Think of your habitual brain like a small child and observe its behaviour. Don’t jump ahead in the program, take your time with it and trust the process. When it comes to using mindpower think of it like interacting with a small child, you are not being unkind to that part of yourself or its perception of needs, you are listening and helping to guide it to behaviour that is better serving. “Oh your feeling bored/ frustrated/ stressed etc? Let’s go for a walk/ call a friend/ look up a new recipe etc instead” rinse and repeat until you find better behaviours that serve your wants/ needs and the responses stick.

This is why really studying your smoking prompts is important, it helps you understand the root need that wants to be addressed and sets the groundwork for the next stage.

Live the process, you need to recondition your brain which is going to be really difficult if you don’t immerse yourself in the process.”

As always, I want to say a huge thank you to our amazing CBQ Program members who have given me permission to share their stories!

Happy “Spotlight Day”! Today is the last Wednesday of October and I’m excited to share with you this week’s top success stories and tips from the CBQ community.

I get inspired every day by our community, and I know you will too.

Inspiring Success: 4 Years Vape-Free

A few days ago, CBQ Program member Rohit Chawla from California, US, celebrated 4 years vape-free! Rohit was a smoker who switched to vaping as a healthier alternative. But after years of vaping he got even more addicted and desperately wanted to break free. He tried to quit many times, but nothing changed his relationship and habit with his vape. Until he joined the CBQ Program. 4 years after the program, Rohit has saved a whopping 22 thousand dollars, 1 year of life, and countless moments of guilt and pain.

This is Rohit with his CBQ Success Certificate:

This is what Rohit shared about his success a few days ago. So inspiring, right?!

Inspiring Success: 3 Years Smoke-Free

This week, CBQ Program member Karla Ureña from Jalisco, Mexico celebrated 3 years smoke free!

In her own words:

“I am so grateful for the CBQ program. It has helped me quit and understand so many things about my behavior, thoughts, emotions, and personality.

Actually, I quit cigarettes on October 27, 2021. I haven’t smoked nicotine since and will never do it again.

I also used to smoke weed, and I thought this wouldn’t be a problem. But I had only changed what I was using in my addictive behavior. Of course, it was different in many aspects because there isn’t a physical craving for weed, and it is not addictive as nicotine is. Nevertheless, my mind was still trapped because whenever I had a trigger or couldn’t manage my emotions, I would have a craving thought and smoke weed. Maybe someone who has never been addicted to nicotine wouldn’t experience that, but I did. I just realized I was done inhaling smoke and depending on that to feel good. I recently went to the whole program again. I did it with weed but was aware it was for all kinds of smoking. I successfully quit weed too! If at some point in my life, I had a craving thought, I feel confident I have the skills to manage it. I have been exercising a lot and eating healthy.

I consider your program to help people quit smoking a remarkable and significant job, and I want to contribute. You can find my photo holding my certificate attached.

Thank you so much for sharing your knowledge through the CBQ method. I am so grateful to you”

3 years later, Karla is happy and totally free!

This is the inspiring Karla with her CBQ Success Certificate:

Tip of the Week

This week’s tip comes from CBQ Program member Collette Dziemian, who quit smoking and drinking with the CBQ Program …. and lost 16 pounds! Collette has not had a cigarette or a sip since February 24, 2024 and she’s feeling free and happy!

Collette’s quit smoking mindset tip: Smoking is not the solution

“Smoking would only be minutes and after it’s going to add to the anxiety without removing anything causing the anxiety. I feel for you very deeply and personally. Just remember smoking is not the solution to anything keep choosing wisely how to handle each moment. You’ve got the skills”

As always, I want to say a huge thank you to our amazing CBQ Program members who have given me permission to share their stories!

Happy “Spotlight Day”! Today, I’m excited to share with you this week’s most inspiring success stories and tips from the CBQ community! Let’s dive in.

Inspiring Success

This week, CBQ Program member Elizabeth Silverthorn from Washington, US, celebrated 3 years smoke-free after 50 years of smoking! Elizabeth smoked her first cigarette when she was 15 years old. After many failed attempts, she quit 50 years later, at 65 years old with the Cognitive Behavioral Quitting (CBQ) Program, and LOVES being a non-smoker.

She’s such an inspiring person! You can watch Elizabeth sharing her own story of how she quit smoking and how this affected her physical and mental health in this Ask An Ex episode:

Inspiring Success: Quit IQOS

This week, CBQ Program member Inese Keisha from Scotland, UK, celebrated 3 years smoke-free. Inese shared with the CBQ Method Facebook Group, that when she first joined the CBQ Program, she was extremely skeptical it would work for her.

“I didn’t think anything positive about this method. I spent money and thought if I could just last long enough to get my money back by not smoking IQOS for 2 months. I’d quit before, for 2 pregnancies, but only until I stopped breastfeeding. I tried an easyway book and seminar, electroshock, hypnotherapy, sheer willpower, replacements, acupuncture… nothing stuck. I didn’t believe this would work either.”

But the CBQ Program did work.

“But here I am! Juggling two energetic kids, a job, a house, and a garden, and not a single thing could persuade me to smoke again… not even one cigarette. I’m out often, even amidst smokers, and I just feel lucky that I don’t have to feed that craving anymore.”

You can watch Inese sharing her story of how she quit IQOS with the CBQ Program in this Ask An Ex episode:

Answers to Your Questions

Often, newcomers in our community ask if it’s necessary to join the CBQ Program or if you can quit smoking with the CBQ Method for free. While joining the program is optional, it can very well be life-changing.

This is what CBQ Program member Paula Vosko recently answered to this question:

“Have you watched the videos? This is a site to help people quit but it’s also to support the CBQ method which has helped tons of people to successfully quit, including me.. non smoker for 4 years. So my advice is don’t try to quit on your own. Do the program.. it teaches you how to deal with those nasty mental cravings.”

Paula smoked for 50 years, and has had zero struggle remaining a non-smoker even though her partner still smokes.

As always, I want to say a huge thank you to our amazing CBQ Program members who have given me permission to share their stories!

Happy “Spotlight Day”! As always, I’m excited to share with you this week’s most inspiring success stories and tips from the CBQ community!

Inspiring Success

This week, CBQ Program member Patti Murphy from Maryland, US, celebrated 2 years smoke-free after 40 years of smoking!

Patti started smoking when she was a teenager, and tried to quit many times. Even though she was able to abstain from smoking, for years at a time, she had constant cravings, which caused her to relapse. After completing the Cognitive Behavioral Quitting (CBQ) Program in two weeks, Patti quit smoking for good!

Over a year after her quit date, Patti had zero cravings and saved over $4000.

2 years later, Patti is still a happy non-smoker.

This is Patti with her CBQ Success Certificate:

Patti’s Tip: Allow yourself to feel the freedom!

“For me it has been a matter of allowing myself to feel the freedom. Sometimes we’re so hung up on a bad habit that we fail to internalize the good we’re doing when we pull away. Try congratulating yourself regularly. Perhaps every time you start obsessing about being smoke free, try replacing those thoughts with positive thoughts, like “Yeh, I’m smoke free!!!!”

Inspiring Success: Quit Vaping

This week, our beautiful CBQ Program member Angela Ernst from California, US, celebrated 6 months vape-free!

Angela used to smoke and eventually started vaping. She tried many times to quit mostly with sheer willpower, but it didn’t work and it didn’t last. On April 5, 2024, she smoked her last cigarette without relying on willpower, but by transforming her relationship with nicotine.

This is Angela celebrating with her CBQ Success Certificate!

And as always, I want to say a huge thank you to our amazing CBQ Program members who have given me permission to share their stories!