It’s the end of the school year, which means most kids are counting down the days until summer vacation. But for a select few, this isn’t the case. The students who love school, who love learning, and who are great at it will miss school over the summer. That’s because they’re doing what they’re good at. They’re doing what they love.

The same principle applies to you. If you’re regularly counting down the days until your vacation, the weekend, or even the end of the day then you’re not in the right job. Period.

Sure, some people who are in a temporary position (often new grads who need experience to pad their resume) should wait it out. Get what you need out of the job and move on. In these cases, the countdown is inevitable.

But for most people this is it. If you’re mid-career or end-of-career and find yourself regularly in countdown mode, then you’ve seriously misjudged something. 

Maybe it’s time to make a change.

Because if you spend your life counting down the days then you’re not making the most of the present moment. And study after study shows that the most successful people aren’t spending their time daydreaming about the future. They’re here in the present. Albeit they’re balanced. They haven’t forgotten the past, and they’ve set future goals and have a plan to get there, but they’re spending their time in the present, because the present is where things get done.

Stop counting down the minutes, hours, days, weeks, or months. Make a change now in your attitude, your job, or both. Find your passion, and you’ll find success and happiness will follow.