* Don't go anywhere that drinking is the primary focus, or even secondary focus
* Pick up a regular hobby that makes you happy and do it at least three times a week
* Talk to people you enjoy and join them in activities that don't involve drinking
* Put the amount of money you'd normally have spent on booze into a piggy bank and watch it grow
* Make a list of things that make you happy, and revisit it when you're feeling down (instead of revisiting booze)
* Get a buddy to abstain with you from drinking or smoking for mutual moral support
* Put an 'X' on a calendar for every day you don't drink
* If you find it difficult, give yourself an arbitrary goal date. Once you reach it, try to extend it further
* Make it easier for you to drink healthy things by getting things you need (tea infusers, pitchers, juice concentrate, water bottles, etc)
(I recently did two months, which was much harder for me than I anticipated, but I finally got over the hump and have had very little to drink for weeks. Feels nice to have more productive things to do than burn money and feel run down in the morning, and i'm looking better too!)
Martial arts (aikido, thai boxing, brazilian jiu-jitsu, tai chi, capoeira, kendo, eskrima/arnis, krav maga, fencing)
Dancing (salsa, merengue, swing, tango, blues, ballroom, hip hop, jazz)
Music (learn an instrument, live local shows, discover new genres, download and listen to new music)
Literature (join a book club, cheap books from thrift stores or yard sales, try fiction/nonfiction, reflect on what you read, blog it)
Blogging (research and then write about a subject you care about)
Volunteerism (soup kitchens, community gardens, local government, special needs, peace core, hackerspaces, free education community organizations, conventions, public awareness, public services, community programs)
Weird stuff (slacklining, acro-yoga, aerial silks, unicycling, juggling, rope bondage, home brewing, crafting, building models, puzzles, trivia, ham radio, blacksmithing, astronomy, woodworking, car tuning, karaoke, magic, gravestone rubbing, gardening, canning, locksport, leatherwork)
* Don't keep any alcohol in your house
* Don't go anywhere that drinking is the primary focus, or even secondary focus
* Pick up a regular hobby that makes you happy and do it at least three times a week
* Talk to people you enjoy and join them in activities that don't involve drinking
* Put the amount of money you'd normally have spent on booze into a piggy bank and watch it grow
* Make a list of things that make you happy, and revisit it when you're feeling down (instead of revisiting booze)
* Get a buddy to abstain with you from drinking or smoking for mutual moral support
* Put an 'X' on a calendar for every day you don't drink
* If you find it difficult, give yourself an arbitrary goal date. Once you reach it, try to extend it further
* Make it easier for you to drink healthy things by getting things you need (tea infusers, pitchers, juice concentrate, water bottles, etc)
(I recently did two months, which was much harder for me than I anticipated, but I finally got over the hump and have had very little to drink for weeks. Feels nice to have more productive things to do than burn money and feel run down in the morning, and i'm looking better too!)