I know I have so much mental baggage (ie: hating myself) that I need to deal with, but right now I am trying to stay focused on not drinking.... one day at a time. So far so good
First of all in early sobriety I lived in a state of confusion for several months, it was darn hard to keep from drinking.
One of the most important ways I found to stay sober was to try and help others, be it staying sober or what ever. When I sat around focusing on NOT drinking the urge TO drink was always the first thing on my mind.
I focused on my recovery instaed of NOT drinking, I went to tons of meetings, have a sponsor, & took the steps, in taking the steps I found tremendous relief from my guilt, shame, resentments, & fears, this led me to see that I am a pretty good person & I quit hating myself, life began to come into focus & the thoughts that used to spin around in my head all the time dissappeared for the most part & my ability to focus & finsh the task at hand got better.
What I found by taking the steps was I had a new solution for life that when applied daily & to ALL areas of my life removed the idea of a drink as a solution to ANYTHING!
I did not & do not dwell on not drinking, instead I focus on being the best person I can be, I focus on living life to the fullest & being of maximum service to my family, friends, & community. Thsi all makes me feel better about myself & the idea of a drink is not part of that equation.
When I tried to quit so many times before all I did was sit around thinking about drinking, not drinking, drinking not drinking, drinking, not drinking, hell doing that all the time always drove me back to drinking just because it was far easier to drink then it was to sit around thinking about not drinking.