it is definitely not easy. I find isolating myself is the worst for my drinking so be careful. Pretty much as others said your whole lifestyle needs to change.
I am not successfully sober just yet, but there a lot of people who HAVE gone all the way to stay sober. My best was 2 months, and in those 2 months, i had to fill my days and evenings with lots of activities and personal achievements so that being sober tomorrow was more important then the few beers tonight.
I had come into work SO hungover in the past so many times that i actually don't find drinking exciting after work because i know where it will lead me.
i relapsed when a friend of mine asked me if i could drop him off to a BBQ. I walked in to see what was going on, then down in the chair and just spontaneously started drinking. After that, i had memory blackouts and then all of a sudden i wake up in the morning IN MY CAR, in a supermarket parking lot about 6km away.
Looks like i drove 6km and i don't even remember it.
So my point of the story is Thats how Alcoholism will creep up on you when you least suspect it. After a few months you will think you are cured and then off you go again down the slide to hell.