I am now into my ninth year of not having smoked a cigarette and have not looked back since.

So how did I do it? My secret, I came up with a plan. Plain and simple.

After numerous failed attempts and supposed miracle cures, I decided my last cigarette would be on the 31^st December 2003. The following plan and tactics would help me get through the next few months and possibly years.

You may have noticed I use the word ‘I’ a lot. This is intentional.

The Dylan Lees-Jones – ‘giving up smoking’ action plan (key parts)

•  At 29 years old, I decided smoking was now my biggest challenge. I had to face up to it, focus and act

• I told myself I was dying and had six months to live. I didn’t need a doctor to tell me this

• I decided smoking was easy and giving up was hard. Now there’s a challenge!

• If there was ever an urge to smoke, I would think about how sick I felt after having a cigarette

•  I would go out drinking with friends, who smoked, to test my plan

• I told myself smoking the occasional cigarette would eventually lead to a full packet and I would have failed again

• I always wanted a family and to be a great dad. My daughter is nearly three and my son is due in March!

• I knew running the London Marathon would never be achieved if my training had to work alongside a 35-a-day habit. I ran it in 2008!

• Becoming a black belt in Wu Shu Kwan Chinese Boxing would never be fulfilled within the next four years. I passed in 2007!

• I drew up a list of things I wanted. Making savings from not smoking helped me save over £1,000 a year.

The key to it all was I wanted to give up. Having a plan and occupying myself were essential. I needed to replace smoking with something else. Something much cheaper and healthy! Without a plan I would still be smoking, a heart attack waiting to happen or worse dead.