Hmm, tips you ask? All I can do is tell you what's been working, and working well for me...
- Don't drink.
- Take it one day at a time. Don't worry about staying sober next week, or tomorrow even... Just stay sober today.
- Attending AA meetings. Listening/sharing helps.
- Getting a sponsor. If you go the AA route, they're not lying when they tell you to get one.
- Reading my "Big Book". Even if you decide AA isn't for you, it's still a great read.
- Working steps. Skepticism is in my nature (I'm an alcoholic... Apparently we have high levels of this). The sponsor wasn't fibbing; I feel better with each one.
- Avoiding the high-pressure situations which triggered my drinking in the past.
- Prayer. I'm NOT a religious person, but prayer definitely has a calming effect. If nothing else, it can be the one (or more) peaceful conversation of the day.
- Developing new, sober acquaintances. There are several younger guys in my Wednesday night group who're VERY friendly and very like-minded. Makes it easy knowing that they've been in that awkward phase of not being used to talking to strangers when sober.
- HAVE FUN! My tendency is to either dwell in the past or worry about the future. However, I've actively been forcing myself to focus on the here-and-now, and it's pretty awesome to actually experience life, rather than relive it or worry about it.
- Working out. I've always loved it, but have been lax for a long time with it. Getting back into it gives me some drive. In the past, I've drank heavily when into the fitness kicks, and now I have my competition: ME. If I could achieve good things with booze, I can rock it without.
- Quotes / Analogies / Mantras... These often appeal to my nerdy/logical side. Or at least if any of those dark thoughts start creeping back into my head, they serve as a mental reminder of what I'm doing.