Have a hook to hang it all on, one that makes sense to you

It can be a complicated business trying to balance all your needs and commitments with a good waterproof plan that stops you drinking.

Try to have one overarching thought, one belief, one little sentence that sums up why you're not drinking.

Something like:

Drinking alcohol just makes everything worse, it solves no problems, it's just like pouring petrol on a fire
Not drinking gives me the best chance of everything turning out well
Drinking has caused me so much grief that it's never worth risking anything that'll put it near me
Drinking has caused so much damage that I must never listen to any voices that try to persuade me to have a drink
"After a night out, I nodded off for a few seconds on the back of my then boyfriend's motorbike. That's when it hit home that me and booze needed to rethink our relationship."¹

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