I wonder if you have to reach a certain "bottom" to accept this. Even those who take it one day at a time for a while have reached that point where they realize that no matter what they do, alcohol won't lead to any good for them. I don't think it requires everyone to lose their family/ house/ car, etc. Some people get there just by one little thought of "maybe I drink too much". Finally it comes to a point where they realize that alcohol will never be good for them, so it's time to let it go forever.
Some people seem to need to test the water a little more. They go back out and try moderating, hoping that they still haven't crossed that line. I guess at some point you have to ask yourself "is alcohol doing me any good?". I believe that it does do good for some people. Those are the people that manage to have one glass of wine a night, or one cocktail on the weekends. It helps them relax, and it helps with their blood pressure maybe. But to the person who wakes up every weekend with a pounding headache and a night full of embarrassment... you might want to ask yourself what good alcohol is doing for YOU. Even if one manages to "control" their drinking by adhering to STRICT guidelines comes home to find themselves aggravated by the fact that they can't have another drink... is alcohol doing them any good anymore?
I think once you find yourself NEEDING alcohol, like for instance, for social situations. Is alcohol still doing you good? Is it still serving you? Because you're a slave to it now. You can't even be your true and honest self without it. You feel like you can't even make friends without it.
This is all rambling on my part of course. Just thoughts going through my head. For me, I just got to a point where I realized that under NO circumstances will alcohol every do me any good. If I have 1 glass I'll be left frustrated. If I have more than that I'll probably go into a binge. If I have a binge I'll feel like crap. Then it's back on down that rabbit hole. Even if I only have 1 binge every once in a while, I'll still be left feeling terrible for several days. Not including having to deal with the stupid stuff I do whilst binging.