At this time of year, tens of thousands of smokers decide to quit. Other people decide to lose weight, go on a healthy diet, take more exercise, or make one or more of hundreds of similar good resolutions. Some make it happen; many don’t. Even if we assume that not all of their decisions were serious, the question still remains: “Why do so many good and genuine resolutions for change fail so quickly?” It’s easiest to explain by working through an example.
Let’s suppose that our smoker determined to quit is faced with a simple, insignificant choice. It’s a time of the day when he or she almost always had a cigarette. A friend holds out a packet and offers one of the former smoker’s usual brand. “Go on,” the friend says. “You know just one won’t matter. You can give up after this.”
Logically, what the friend says is true. Smoking one “last” cigarette is such an insignificant act in itself that it will have virtually no effect on health or, supposedly, the resolution to quit.
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