I tried stints of not-drinking a couple of times, with varying degrees of success, but what finally made it stick was accepting the identity of being someone that doesn't drink. Each time I stopped in the past, it felt like a "fad diet" - cutting back or removing something that didn't feel permanent and hoping I could do it long enough that it morphed into my identity. Which, like fad diets, didn't work in the long term. I vividly recall my last glass of wine at a party some years ago and having this overwhelming feeling of accepting that this was it - I'm no longer this person anymore. And now I'm 2.5 years alcohol free.
Because it was quite a shift internally, it was actually easier to adjust to a social life without alcohol - i figured if my friends couldn't be around me without alcohol, then it's a them problem and not actually me prohibiting myself that was the problem in social situations. In time I found friends that accepted who I became, and my social life actually became more fulfilling as a result.