But now, when you light a cigarette, you say out loud, “I never smoke.” The first thing that will happen is that if you say those words in front of someone else, while you are lighting your cigarette, your friends are going to think you’re a little strange! But you continue to say the words, both to yourself and out loud. And for a while, you continue to smoke, just as you have become conditioned to smoking, but you also continue to give yourself new self-talk at the same time: “I never smoke... I no longer smoke...” etc.
