I smoked a pack of Newport 100's a day for five years, quit for two months, smoked for another nine, then quit again, so I understand the psychology of cigarette addiction.
It's really not about the nicotine for most people. Nicotine is devilish because - like other types of speed - it works fast and ends fast, leaving a craving in its wake. But because it leaves your system so quickly, your body quickly realizes it doesn't need it.
The problem is, the body gets over cigarettes way quicker than the brain. It becomes an anxiety trigger, because once your brain associates smoking with a quick pleasurable fix, everything seems wrong until you smoke one.
The good and bad news is: it's all in your head. Unlike, say, alcohol, which can be dangerous to quit cold turkey, the body doesn't crave cigarettes. Nicotine replacement therapies like the gum or patch work because of the "replacement" factor. Every cigarette you smoke is a conscious decision by your brain, so instead, you have to make the conscious decision not to be a smoker, and/or make the gum take the place of cigarettes in your head.
When I decided to quit smoking, I would wake up each day knowing I would not be inhaling a cigarette. With that my mindset, each cigarette I avoided smoking was as mentally pleasurable to me as they used to be when I smoked. Knowing I had no intention of smoking made it fine to be around fellow smokers, and I still love participating in smoking circle discussions, albeit without a cigarette in my hand.
It sucks to hear that there is no trick other than stopping, but that's the truth. It's also the beauty of it, since you know smoking is bad but your mind will keep tricking yourself into smoking one, whereas by being honest with yourself and your intentions you can exercise the willpower to make yourself quit.
My biggest advice: don't guilt yourself. It accomplishes nothing. If you're smoking, smoke proudly and don't be all "I'm only going to smoke 5 today," because that never works and only makes the cigarettes you're killing yourself with less pleasurable. On the same token, once you've quit, you've quit. Make it a black-and-white issue for yourself: just like theists unquestioningly accept that there is a god, when you're ready, you can have the faith that you're done smoking.
Having quit other drugs as well, smoking is not the hardest to quit, the problem is like others have mentioned, cigarettes are super accessible. That's why you have to make the decision to be done, and not waver. After a week you'll feel less tired and your chest will hurt less, and that should be all the physical encouragement you need.
