If we’re trying to quit smoking and have failed more times than we’d care or could count, then there’s also this tip from US President Barack Obama. Speaking with Men’s Health, Obama says no one should be discouraged if they fail or fall off the wagon once, twice or many more times, because it’s the attitude that counts when kicking the habit – and he speaks from his own experience nonetheless.

For starters, Obama admits to the mag that he was never a heavy smoker, therefore going off cigarettes was relatively easy since he did not have any of the withdrawal symptoms that often make it very hard for heavy smokers to last through the first week of abstinence. Still, he believes the secret to making it is to be found in the attitude, the kind “so what if I fell of the wagon if I can start afresh tomorrow again?” As a side note, this type of approach, which also includes failure in the equation, is hailed by specialists as the best of the lot, and not only with smoking but with most challenging endeavors, such as dieting or opting for a drastic lifestyle change.

“There wasn’t some dramatic moment [when I quit]. Michelle had been putting pressure on me for a while. I was never really a heavy smoker. Probably at my peak I was smoking seven or eight a day. More typical was three. So it wasn’t a huge challenge with huge withdrawal symptoms. There have been a couple of times during the campaign when I fell off the wagon and bummed one, and I had to kick it again. But I figure, seeing as I’m running for president, I need to cut myself a little slack.” Barack Obama says for Men’s Health.

However, were he to enlarge a bit on the topic, he would say eliminating all other habits and routines that a smoker comes to associate with the act of smoking is perhaps the best way to ensure temptation doesn’t rear its ugly head. Again, this is something that health experts also emphasize greatly, since, in most cases, the desire to light up has no other root than the fact that we’re doing something that we usually do when we smoke.

“Eliminate certain key connections – that first cigarette in the morning, or after a meal, or with a drink. If you can eliminate those triggers, that should help.” Obama further explains. As a side note, once the key connections are eliminated (or, better yet, replaced with other things / activities that do not imply smoking), nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) should take care of withdrawal symptoms, as a recent study has revealed.