It didn't work for me.
Fear. Fear only worked for a short time for me. Fear of being an alcoholic is what kept me from drinking when I was a young teenager. My brother was one and he committed suicide as a direct result. I did not want to be him.
I was almost sixteen at time. By nineteen I was already on my way into the first stages of alcoholism.
Fear later caused me to stop drinking. Fear of losing a relationship I was in. That lasted a little over five months.
It only works for so long, at least that is how it worked for me. Fear of being an alcoholic, fear of losing a relationship, fear of losing my job etc would get me to the path of sobriety but it never kept me there. It faded and was replaced with resentment. It was not me that had the problem, it was them. They wanted me to stop, not me.
Once I got the resentment rollercoaster moving, it was all downhill again.
This time it was just me. I don't think I even said to myself, I need to stop. I was just at the bottom and done. I didn't look at anyone. I was so low that I had few choices left.