You know, I found that quitting smoking is actually pretty easy. No seriously. If you think it's hard to quit, then it's going to be hard to quit. If you think it's easy, then it'll be easy. Having said that, here's my advice (just for street cred, you should know that I quit three years ago and was a two-pack-a-day non-filtered smoker. I've not had one cigarette since the day I quit. Since then, I have helped three others quit (and another quit but started back up because he's a wuss
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First, don't go cold-turkey. Sort of. Use some kind of nicotine replacement therapy, like the gum or lozenge. The patch is difficult to use during the initial quit phase because it doesn't have a built-in mechanism for dealing with unexpected cravings, so I recommend against it. (The patch is great for getting off the gum, however.) Using the gum or lozenge give you a chance to deal with breaking the smoking habit without having to worry about nicotine withdrawals. This is very important.
Second, go cold turkey. When you decide to quit, quit. Right then. Don't wait. Throw out that half pack of cigarettes. It'll give you power over them. Don't cut down for three weeks, thinking that'll help; it won't. Instead, it'll give you a bunch of time to think about how much quitting will suck and how hard it will be. Don't do that to yourself.
Third, identify why you smoke. Is it stress? Mouth feel? Habit? That it acts as a stimulant? Whatever smoking provides, you need to figure out some other way to provide it. If it's about stress, then you need to come up with ways to reduce stress, and cope with what stress you have left. If it's about mouth feel (having something to chew on), start chewing on something else, like gum or pens. If it's a habit, then break it. If it's that it's a stimulant drug, start drinking (more) coffee or tea or ginseng or what have you. If it's about something else, then figure it out and replace it.
Fourth, identify why you want to quit, then forget about it. Seriously. Thinking about those reasons will just stress you out and make you want to smoke more. Instead, realize those reasons and put them out of your mind. Focus on something else, preferably something that doesn't involve smoking.
Fifth, use the gum and follow the directions. The gum works when you stick with it. I've never seen anyone relapse who quit using the gum if they stuck with the program. The first rule of the gum is to chew enough pieces. If you get even the slightest craving, pop in another piece. Don't hold off. Holding off makes the craving worse, and eventually you'll pick a smoke instead of a piece of gum. You'll need to chew a large amount of gum for about two months. Probably about as many gum pieces as cigarettes you smoke now. Don't worry that it's more expensive than cigs; you'll save WAY more money by the time you quit than you spend in the beginning on gum.
A word to the wise: you'll eventually need to quit the gum. You see, the gum works by getting you addicted to the gum while you break the smoking habit. After you've been chewing for three months, you'll need to quit the gum. The gum directions say to start weening yourself off after two months of chewing. Don't worry if you need more time before you start weening off. If you still need fifteen pieces a day to fend off cravings, then you need fifteen pieces a day. However, after three to four months you will need to quit the gum. Luckily, that's not too hard.
Here's how: the patch and chewing gum. I like those whitening gums, but to each their own. Just use the smallest dose patch, and chew a piece of (chewing) gum if you start getting nervous. After two weeks or so you should be fine to give up the patch. Bam, you're quit. If you really start getting some cravings, take off the patch and relapse to the gum for the day. That's it though. The next morning stick another patch on and be happy.
Anywho, what's above is what I found when I quit smoking and from the experiences of the many people I've helped quit. Not everyone I've helped has been successful, but I can safely say that most of them unquit, not because they couldn't do it, but because they were too cheap and too stubborn to admit that they were having extra cravings and needed more gum.