Loy Machedo’s Book Review – Allen Carr’s Easy Way to Stop Smoking
There are alcohol addicts, drug addicts, smoking addicts, sex addicts, gaming addicts, shopping addicts….and I guess there must be many more.
In my case, I am a book addict.
Yes folks, I admit.
My name is Loy Machedo and I am a bookoholic.
And this was proved even further when I passed by yet another book store to just ‘have a look’ as I call it, and ended up purchasing two bags full of books.
As I was exiting the store, my eyes fell upon the book titled Allen Carr’s ‘Easy Way to Stop Smoking’.
Now under normal circumstance, I wouldn’t bother.
Simply because I don’t smoke or drink.
Never have and never will.
But then the fine blue print at the top of the book caught my attention – Nine Million Copies Sold.
I was like, what the hell does this book have that it would end up selling Nine Million Copies in Print?
And without a seconds hesitation, I decided to purchase it.
Well, if there was a secret, I need to know what it is all about so that I can may be help others – especially since I am a self-help coach and trainer.
So I took it home, opened it….and this is what I found out.
So now who is Allen Carr?
Allen Carr (2 September 1934 – 29 November 2006) was an author of books about quitting smoking and other psychological dependencies including alcohol addiction. He quit smoking after 33 years as a hundred-a-day chain smoke
Carr’s clinics claim 90% success rate in helping smokers stop for 3 months, and 51% percent success rate in helping smokers stop for 12 months. Celebrity clients include Richard Branson, Anthony Hopkins, Ashton Kutcher, Britney Spears, Ellen DeGeneres, Charlotte Church, Mahesh Babu and Hrithik Roshan.
Carr also wrote a number of other how-to books on subjects such as losing weight and stopping alcohol consumption. The combined publishing effort and global clinic network built him a £120-million fortune.
On the plus side
1) Very easy to read book.
2) Simple small short chapters
3) Logical in its mental approach
4) Most probably you can finish it in one single sitting
On the minus side
1) It is so simplified that you will wonder if the approach really works
2) The whole focus is towards being aware and responsible
3) It focuses around smoking being a mental game.
Content Summary
1) The first 35 pages were nothing but praise for the Easyway method (the method Allen Carr uses to help people stop smoking)
2) The pivotal questions he poses are: What is it doing for me? Do I actually enjoy it? And Do I really need to go through life paying through the nose just to stick these things through my mouth and suffocate myself?
3) An average smoker spends around 75,000 pounds in a lifetime on smoking
4) The person is never addicted to smoking – they are addicted to a Nicotine – the drug.
5) Why asking the wrong questions does more harm than good – like ‘giving up’ smoking is primarily focused on the mind thinking it is giving up something than gaining something
6) And yes, then he focuses on all the common myths we have and experience which make us even more addicted to Nicotine rather than help us free ourselves from it.
7) The 5 day physical pain and the three week withdrawal symptoms.
44 Chapters which are easy to read – really easy but with a major question – is this all there is to quitting smoking?
Overall Analysis.
There is a big question at the end if this system works or not. The strange bit is that after reading through so many websites all I found is positive recommendations with regards to this book. So does this work or not – well I don’t know. I guess not being a smoker, I am not a good candidate to speak if this works or not. May be the only criticism anyone can point out towards the book is this – Allen Carr died because of lung cancer at the age of 71. However….I still would recommend you to buy it and have a read. Well if it does work – why not? After all, what do you lose if you can purchase one book – the same price that you would pay to purchase one pack of cigarette?
Overall rating – (based on ease of reading and goodwill)
8 out of 10
Loy Machedo’s Extra
For those of you who do not wish to spend money like I did, well I found quite a number of sites offering these books for a free download. Here is the link if you are interested.
http://quitober.com/pdf/AllenCarrEasyWayToStopSmoking.pdf
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