When I quit drinking, I did it cold turkey, no meetings, no books. I prayed for strength and guidance, but I knew my choices had brought on the problem, and only my choices would correct it.
I gritted my teeth and said over and over in my head, "I choose to not drink." "I will not drink." I surrounded myself with pictures of my kids to remind me why I was changing my life. I changed all of the desktop wallpaper on the computers I use to pictures of my kids. I put kid pics on my keychain. I glued kid pics on a Mardi Gras coin and kept it in my change pocket. I put kid pics in my wallet with the folding money. One wonderful afternoon a picture taped to my dashboard kept me from going into the liquor store after I drove there and parked. It was 3 weeks after I quit and it's the closest I've come to a relapse. With time, sobriety has become a routine part of my life. I don't need the constant reminders any more.
I still keep the picture coin in my change pocket and pictures in my wallet to remind me.