That title is not click bait. Much as it might seem a false claim or a tall one, it is the truth that I proudly share. Stuff that I hope to inspire you with, if you are a smoker. And encouragement I hope you will pass around, if you are a non-smoker.

January is the month in which resolutions start their journey with aplomb and, often, end with an excuse. They start off like rockets stacked with the burning fuel of motivation that should propel the payload (it gets heavier by the minute!) into the orbit of regular, mechanical habit. By the end of the first month, if not the first week, cracks in the mission start showing up or the fuel gauge cries out how quickly you are losing stamina! Whatever the gravity of your promise (the thing you have committed to do, or not to do), good old Gravity (of Newtonian fame) simply pulls you down, not letting your resolution to get very far. Especially when the thing (not) to do is a tough nut: like smoking.

That’s when nothing short of the strongest incentives work. Funnily enough, human brain most of the time rejects ‘good health’ and ‘strong teeth’ as excuses not strong enough – sad but true. Like how psychologists and ‘incentive engineers’ would put it, the need of the hour is a reward you can show off even before it shows up on your insurance forms. (It usually takes two years before they give you the elite rewards of a non-smoker.)

By the way, if you want to know when the health benefits start showing up, read it here

So, what I needed when I wanted to stop smoking was a reason I couldn’t refuse – an utterly elite reward that would show up in less than a year, and would always give me the right to brag, particularly to myself. Something that would flash in the face of weakness and give those shaky fingers something to hold on to.

Hmm… how about a BMW?

A BMW? In less than a year? Am I crazy or am I kidding? Absolutely neither; I actually did it. So read on.

Here is how it worked out.

First of all, the idea was to choose something less philosophical and more tangible.
Like money, and things money could buy.

The spiel on why you shouldn’t be smoking is already known to you or is easily available at your fingertips. That’s the last thing on your mind right now; the first thing is how do the figures add up to a BMW! So, let’s start by counting butts. The ones you throw out every 15 minutes or half an hour – depending on how badly you are hooked on! Mine would add up to a full packet, more or less. So that makes it 10 dirhams a day (or as many dollars or Euros depending on where you live) to keep the math simple.

10 dirhams a day x 30 days makes it 300 a month. AED 3600 a year.

You should be thinking, “It is big money, but still too small to add up to a BMW in a year, even if it were bound for the scrapyard!” And mine is brand new! Yeah, I forgot to mention that my new black Bimmer is actually brand new just in case you were thinking I bought a battered old jalopy.

Come on, you can do a lot more than that with what trickles down your coin box every day, every hour. So, click here to see a picture of my brand new BMW I bought with what I saved on smokes in less than a year. I kept it just beyond the bend, as I wanted the secret to add to the surprise!