How do alkali metals achieve the electron configuration of a noble gas?

Alkali metals, which are located in Group 1 of the periodic table, achieve the stable electron configuration of a noble gas by losing their single, loosely held valence electron.123

Because alkali metals have one electron in their outermost s orbital, they are highly reactive. By transferring this electron to another element with greater electron affinity, the alkali metal atom forms a singly charged positive ion (cation). Once this valence electron is removed, the remaining electronic structure corresponds to the stable, closed-shell configuration of the noble gas that immediately precedes that element in the periodic table. This process is a primary example of the octet rule, which describes the tendency of atoms to attain the stable eight-electron arrangement characteristic of noble-gas atoms.1324