All good things in moderation. It is fine to have a vice or two, so no one wants to sound preachy when urging people to quit smoking. Quitting is not an easy task to accomplish. Quitting cold turkey is even harder.

That said, there is no doubt that smoking is bad for personal health and bad for economic health.

So, if you smoke, did you make a New Year’s resolution to quit smoking? We hope so. Quitplan Services offers the following tips.

Come up with a plan: Develop a plan that details when you want to quit, steps you are going to take and how you are going to measure success along your quitting journey.

Set a quit date: Set a specific date that will be the last day you will have a cigarette, put chew in your mouth, or light up that cigar.

Use a support system: Ask friends and family to support you in your decision to quit smoking and talk with them about what you want that support to look like. Ask your friends to stay in and have a game or movie night instead of going to the bars. Tell your family to challenge you if they see you reaching for a cigarette.

Coping skills: Identify your smoking triggers and develop strategies to help you get through the difficult moments such as taking a walk, calling a friend or occupying your hands with an object other than a cigarette.

Seek out help: Studies have shown that using a professional program greatly increases a smoker’s chance of successfully quitting. The average success rate for cold turkey quit attempts is around 5 percent; smokers who use professional counseling are much more successful at quitting smoking. Quitplan Services offers free quit-smoking services to all Minnesotans, including personalized plans, phone counseling services, online resources and free nicotine patches, gum or lozenges for qualifying individuals.

Quitplan Services has helped more than 18,000 Minnesotans successfully quit tobacco use. Minnesotans can find out about all the free help to quit smoking available through Quitplan Services by visiting quitplan.com or by calling 888-354-7526.