Anxiousrock, It's not about "trying hard" as much as its about "changing your mindset", in my opinion. I drank heavily for many years and had many quits that only lasted a day or so. I always hated on myself for not having the "willpower" to stop.
Today, I'm almost at 6 months sober. I'm still blown away that I'm doing this. It's been challenging yes but in all honesty, with my new view on alcohol, It hasn't been all that bad. The old me would say to self "its not fair, theyre having fun, why can't I?, I'm missing out"....so there was always a yearning for something I couldn't have. The new me says to self "Wow, look at what alcohol is doing to our society? I'm so lucky and grateful to be free of it...It's so sad to see so many people suffer from this awful substance." And I remind myself about the huge role media and advertising plays in glorifying alcohol. I'm on the other side now, thank you very much!
All that said, I still needed a replacement though (a release). For now, I'm big on dark chocolate, a bag of chips and a movie. The feeling I get when I'm laid back doing this is quite similar to the release I got by "manually" adjusting my mood with alcohol.
Peace to you!