I remind myself that all the good feelings of self esteem and self respect I recieve from sobriety will turn back into self loathing and shame if I drink..only worse then before because I will isolate to avoid the disappointment in others eyes too.
I literally tell myself: Failure is not an option. Then I reassure myself because if I am having urges to drink that is probably because I am afraid to face something without it. In which.case, I give myself permission to slow things down a bit till I am less afraid. I tell myself, drinking is not an option, so lets look at some other options you have to help you with this...