If you want to change your drinking habits, AA and total abstinence are not your only options. Research from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism shows that most people who change their drinking habits do so without AA or rehab. Many decide that quitting smoking altogether is their best option, but many, if not more, resolve their problems by cutting back or becoming more confident drinkers.

1) Safety first

If you have engaged in unsafe drinking behaviors such as drunk driving, unsafe sex, drunk dialing, or any of many others, there is a way to help you avoid this in the future. Get a piece of paper and make a list of the risky behaviors you have engaged in and rank them in a hierarchy; remember that the most important thing is to avoid the riskiest behaviors first. Then make a written plan to avoid your high-risk behaviors before you take your first drink. For example, if you want to drink at a bar, take a cab there so you have to take a cab home. You can’t drive if your car isn’t there. Remember: think before you drink. It is always a good idea to put safety first. The life you save could be your own.

2) Decide what type of drinker you want to be

Many people find that giving up alcohol completely is their best option. No matter how much or how little you drink, anyone can make the decision to abstain completely from alcohol. Others find moderate drinking to be their best goal and will choose to make it a goal to drink in moderation and never get intoxicated. Even those people who are unwilling or unable to abstain from drinking until intoxication can sometimes work to become safer drinkers by planning ahead. Safer drinking can be an important harm reduction goal for these people, as any plan to be safer is always an improvement over unsafe drinking. Safer drinking, reduced drinking, or abstinence from alcohol are all legitimate harm reduction goals, and all are better than no change at all. Also remember that your goal is not set in stone: many people who choose goals of safer drinking or reduced drinking later decide that switching to abstinence is their best option. Life changes and it’s good to be flexible and change with it.

3) Add a few days without drinking

Many people find that having several alcohol-free days a week helps them keep their habit in check. If you’ve been drinking every day for a long time, you may find that adding even one drink-free day each week can help you kick-start your change plan. Feel free to go at your own pace by adding alcohol-free days to your week. Warning: If you have been drinking heavily every day for a long time, you may have alcohol withdrawal if you stop drinking all at once. If you start to have withdrawal symptoms when you stop drinking, then it’s safest to cut back slowly, start a detox, or get some medications from your doctor to help you with alcohol withdrawal.

4) Count and record how much you drink

One of the best ways to monitor your drinking is to count your drinks and keep a daily record on a calendar or some other type of drink chart. To keep an accurate record of how much you drink, you’ll need to learn what a standard drink is. In the US, this is a twelve-ounce beer at five percent alcohol or a five-ounce glass of wine at twelve percent alcohol or one and a half ounces of 80 proof alcohol. A drink at a bar can contain up to half a dozen standard drinks, so be aware of this when recording your drinks. Practice measuring at home to get an idea of ​​how much a standard drink really costs. Write down your drink numbers on your calendar each day; if you have one day of abstinence, write down a zero. Many people find that the act of tracing itself helps them reduce consumption.

5) Make a drink plan

You can use the same calendar where you record your drink numbers to plan how many drinks you’ll have on any given day. For example, you might want to set aside every Sunday to make your drinking plan for the coming week and note which days will be alcohol-free and how many drinks you intend to have on your drinking days. Some people may want to have the same plan every week and will choose to write it down only once. For example, a person may choose to drink safely at home every Saturday night and abstain the other six days of the week. There are as many different possible drinking plans as there are people, so feel free to make the plan that’s right for you.

6) Make a list of pros and cons

Take out four sheets of paper. In the first, write the pros of your current drinking habits, and in the second, write the cons. In the third, write the pros of your intended change, and in the fourth, write the cons. Don’t be afraid to say that alcohol has positive aspects; if you try to suppress the positive aspects, they will stay in your subconscious and cause problems later. If you bring this out now, you can acknowledge it and find other positive things to replace the benefits you get from alcohol. Feel free to list the pros and cons frequently; each time you write them down, you will strengthen your resolve to change.

7) Take a break from drinking

Some people find that the best way to prompt a change in their drinking habits is to have a period without drinking. Taking a week or two or even a month or two without drinking can go a long way in improving your relationship with alcohol. A period of alcohol-free time will give you the opportunity to deal with all your old drinking situations without alcohol, and you will learn new ways to deal with these situations without alcohol.

8) Make a list of ways to have fun without drinking

There are limitless ways to have fun without alcohol, from swimming and knitting to the New York Times crossword puzzle. Get out a sheet of paper and make a list of fun things you can do without alcohol and keep it handy to refer to when you feel the need to break your drinking plan.

9) Accentuate the positive

Don’t beat yourself up if you don’t stick to your plan perfectly. Research shows that most people don’t get it perfect the first time. Making a change usually takes several tries and there are a few slip-ups along the way to achieving your change goal. If you beat yourself up for a small slip, you can feel so miserable that you want to drown your sorrows in alcohol and end up partying as a result. The people who achieve long-term success are the ones who praise themselves for every positive change. If you decide to take a month free from alcohol and get to ten days, be sure to praise yourself for those ten days of abstinence from alcohol, you will never lose them. Don’t spend too much time beating yourself up for missing the full thirty days, get back on the plan immediately, whether you decide to finish the remaining twenty days, go for a straight thirty days, or go for a whole new plan.

10) Have a “Plan B” ready

Slips are the norm when people try to change their habits; only the minority make the full switch the first time. But having a piece of chocolate cake doesn’t mean you have to eat the whole cake. A drink doesn’t have to mean a drunk. If you plan to abstain but slip up and decide to have a drink, make sure you do it safely; If you are in your car, take your car home first and take a taxi to the bar. Have your plan B ready so you can stay safe even if you slip up. A backup plan is essential whether your goal is to drink more safely, cut back on alcohol, or quit smoking altogether.

Always remember that better is better. Any improvement you make over your old drinking habits, no matter how small, is a success!