How many times have you heard someone say, "My dad quit 40 years ago. He just threw the pack out the car window, and that was it. He never looked back."

Unfortunately, it’s not that easy to quit smoking. In fact, it takes most people 8-11 attempts before they can quit for good. But it CAN be done.

And the good news is that now there’s help – it’s called EX® and it’s free online at BecomeAnEX.org.

EX offers a plan to quit that was created using the latest scientific research from the experts at Mayo Clinic and the insights and experiences of EX-smokers. It walks you through all the things you need to do BEFORE you quit smoking, so that when you do actually stop, you’ll be prepared for all the things that might make you slip and go back to smoking.

EX is a new way to think about quitting smoking – as "re-learning life without cigarettes." And the EX Quit Plan is a three-part process that will help you do just that.

Throughout your life as you’ve smoked, cigarettes have become habitually paired with "triggers" – like drinking coffee, driving and dealing with stress – that make you want to smoke. So the first part of the EX Quit Plan involves re-learning how to handle these triggers without smoking.

The second part of the plan is re-learning the whole idea of addiction. Nicotine is the chemical in tobacco that keeps smokers addicted. However, nicotine does NOT cause cancer – it’s the other 11 known carcinogens in tobacco that do. The more smokers learn about how addiction actually works, the more they come to see why nicotine replacement medications (like gum or the patch) are an important part of a quit smoking plan – when used properly, they can double a smoker’s chances of quitting successfully.

The third part of the EX Quit Plan is re-learning just how important support from friends and family can be in helping a smoker quit. At BecomeAnEX.org, you can learn exactly how to ask for and get the right kind of support you need to succeed, even from friends and family who continue to smoke. It CAN be done.

All three parts of this plan come to life at BecomeAnEX.org. There are also a whole bunch of other resources to help smokers tackle this deadly addiction. There’s even a link to an online community of other EX-smokers where you can connect with other people going through the same struggles to quit as you.

And best of all, EX is free. Check it out at BecomeAnEX.org.