Your role as teammate

«My girlfriend had already tried, but didn’t take long to fall back. No doubt because of me. So, a year ago, when we decided to have a baby, we told ourselves it was time to quit.

And this time, we quit together. And it worked! Because there were two of us. Two of us with the same goal. And the same willpower. When she wavered, I’d back her up, and vice-versa. And when we got close to cracking, we’d think of our future baby.»

Serge, ex-smoker since October 6, 2007

Before D-day

• To improve your chances of success, prepare yourself to quit smoking with our 6-point strategy. Also, visit the Countdown and the Tips and tricks in the Getting ready section.
• Complete your Participant’s file, it’s a valuable tool. Personalize it by entering your motivations, your objectives, your tricks and other information. Also, access your on-line diary and cost calculator. Ideal to follow your progress!
• Take the "Why do you smoke?" test (Horn Test), provided by the Canadian Cancer Society. This test will help you understand your smoking habits and determine what factors drive you to smoke. Taking the test will also help you better prepare for quitting and increase your chances of success.
• Learn from your past attempts, and share this with your teammate. You both will be better prepared this time!
• And why not make your decision to quit official by each of you signing a Declaration of Commitment?
• Keep your teammate's contact information close at hand. You can make a call when the urge to smoke hits, or when you're not feeling quite like yourself.
• Don’t forget: you need to quit smoking between now and March 1. Write down your quit date in your agenda! The Challenge starts officially on March 1 for a period of 6 weeks.

During your Challenge

• Share your experiences and tips with your teammate. Discussing what you have found helps reduce stress, improve your mood and boost your confidence in getting through the challenge of quitting smoking.
• Send each other regular encouragement by telephone, e-mail , text messaging, or by using ecards from the quitchallenge.ca website.
• Plan activities with your teammate to to get the better of cravings to light up, and reward yourself for your efforts: a walk, a meal in a restaurant, a session in the gym, a badminton game, a movie, a ski day, etc.
• Don’t hesitate to contact your teammate day or night! Call for help instead of lighting up.

You have questions?

Call the iQuitnow helpline Helpline at 1-866-527-7383, their bilingual counselors will answer your questions, or consult the Quit Smoking Centre of your region.

For more information, visit the «I quit» section.