Those of you who have self-harmed... how did you stop? Or what did you do instead of self-harming?

I put the knives to the side and made sure I never touched them. I forced my brain into thinking that it won't help, and every time I even think about starting up again, I compress that into a little brain-box I call the 'no's' I know, it sounds stupid, but it helps. Picture a little box in your brain. Imagine opening the lid and pushing the thoughts inside of it. Now, picture chaining those thoughts with happier thoughts that make you want to live. Your friends, your family, anything that even makes you the slightest bit happy, pretend those are the things chaining the box from letting the bad things out. That's what I did, in the best terms possible. I apologize if this doesn't help, but I hope you find something or someone else that helps.