I had been feeling crappy for a long time, thinking I wanted to quit, talking about quitting to my doctor and to my shrink, wallowing in my own unhappiness.
Then my shrink said to me, "you know, you can't quit until you really want to quit." It sounds cliche or too simple but he was right.
I'm not out of the woods yet by a long shot. But somehow I got over that mental hump that I wanted to drink or would be in situations where it was almost necessary. Will power was no longer an issue because I really wanted to quit. Not sure if that makes sense.
Allen Carr's book helped reinforce my thinking along these lines. He says it's better to read it while you're still drinking; I had already stopped. But it helped me understand how I had arrived at the right mindset.
(BTW I understand that it's not like this for everyone, but it's how I got here.)