The token economy method uses the power of reinforcement and punishment to get you to quit.

The first step is to identify something that interests you. It can be golf, science fiction books, collecting coins, shopping for shoes or clothes, music, or anything else you can think of. The only criterion is that you must be able to break this interest down into units.

For example, say that you are interested in golf. Your gear is getting tattered and you’d like to buy some new weapons. You need new balls, a putter, a driver and a trundler.

Set aside as much money as you think you’ll need to buy all these things. This may sound expensive, but compared to the cost of smoking cigarettes for decades and dying early, it’s a sound investment.

Then take a sheet of paper and think of two different colors. Use the colors you want. Draw a table of small squares on the paper and number them sequentially, using the second color for the numbers 8, 16, 32, and 48.

Once you’ve done that, think of four items of different value that relate to your hobby. If we stick to golf, perhaps you could use the examples given above: a pack of balls, a putter, a driver, and a trundler. Suppose they increase in price in that order.

Under the number 8, write “Balls.” Under 16 he writes “Putter”, under 32 “Driver” and under 48 “Trundler”.

Now pin the sheet of paper to your refrigerator. Watch it and smoke all you want. Once it’s pinned to your fridge, you can’t buy anything golf-related until you “earn” it. When you wake up tomorrow morning you can start.

Let’s say you wake up at 8 am While eating breakfast you can start manipulating your subconscious. Imagine going and buying that set of golf balls. Imagine turning them over in your hands, feeling the indentations, the hardness. Imagine them rolling towards the cup and the sound they make as they fall. You want the golf balls. You want them very much, and you won’t get them until you earn them.

At 9 am, if you haven’t had a cigarette yet, take a pen and fill in the box with “1” in it. Give yourself a pat on the back. The act of filling a square represents victory in a battle that constitutes the larger war of improving your life. As you complete it, think about a time in your life when you felt like a champion: your first paycheck, making love to an attractive partner, shooting your first sub-90 score, whatever. He closes his eyes and tries to remember how you felt at that moment. The achievement, the satisfaction. As you complete the chart, tell yourself that you deserve to feel the same way you did in his glory moment. And he does!

If you’ve smoked a cigarette, don’t worry: the token economy method anticipates the possibility of failure. Remove the sheet from the refrigerator and tear it into small pieces, preferably in front of a mirror. As you break it down, think of a time in your life when you felt like a loser: getting beat up at school for your lunch money, or your first car accident. Don’t dwell on it too long, just long enough to associate the unpleasantness with the act of tearing up the paper. Then throw the pieces in the trash.

And start over, knowing you’ll never buy a set of golf balls until you hit “8.”

At 10 in the morning, if you haven’t smoked a cigarette yet, fill in the second box and remember the sensations of being a champion again.

As each hour passes, fill in the following chart. If at any point during the day you find your resolve weakening, go back to the piece of paper and look at it. Look at the boxes you’ve filled in and think, “I did it then, I can do it now!” Remember how you felt when you filled in the boxes above. Tell yourself that you want to feel that feeling again and that it is less than an hour away.

And if you have a cigarette, tear up the paper, throw it away and start over from scratch.

When you get to “8”, it’s time to act. Get to the Pro Shop as soon as you can! Fill in the box, get in the car and claim your reward!

Then continue. Your next target is “16”: the putter.

It can go up to 16 while sleeping. That’s fine, you don’t have to get up at night to fill in the boxes. But if you sleep 8 hours, the next morning you can fill eight boxes. Remember that the goal is to break nicotine addiction, and eight hours of abstinence are eight small victories, however you have to do it.

If you wake up the next morning and have gone, say, twenty hours without a cigarette, then eat breakfast, fill in the boxes (while remembering your feelings of being a champion) and then head to the Pro Shop right away. He must claim his reward as soon as he has earned it.

Continue in this way until you reach 48. Don’t worry if you miss one, three or forty times. As long as you continue to associate the act of filling in the chart with positive feelings, you are reprogramming your subconscious to propel yourself toward success.