On my journey to quitting I did some deep enquiry about the nature of nicotine addiction and a detailed analysis of my trigger points for lighting up. This helped me to raise my awareness level so that I could mentally work at short circuiting times when craving arose. Only by pushing through the discomfort was I able to overcome it. I also committed to consciously recognizing every life event that previously resulted in smoking a cigarette and rewarding myself for experiencing it smoke free.
At 12 months free of nicotine I still get the occasional niggle, but am able to move through them easily.
I used zyban to take the initial edge off cravings. I was a smoker for 50 years.