I didn't count the days for two reasons. The first being that I did not believe t was possible for me to recover. The second was it was a bit discouraging to realize I only had three days, when the fellow across the hall had an incredible three weeks!
When my sponsor told me I had made three months, I probably counted the months for a while, but these days just the years as each new year rolls around. It is pretty incredible to me to have made a full and long term recovery. The time has some relevance to me in the sense that when I find someone with the exact same problem as me, I can be an example of a successful approach.
A few years back I met a man in a rehab we called the Hotel California. You have to be pretty bad to get in there, and most don't survive more than a couple of years after discharge. My friend was on his 13th admission to rehab and had been sober the entire time he was in the rehab, which at that stage was about three weeks. I met him at an institutional AA meeting, after which we talked a bit and it turned out he had the exact same problem as I had had.
However he had an alternative solution which was much better than mine and he was determined to continue to pursue that. What can you do? Wish him well and encourage him to follow his conscience. But there was nothing there to suggest it would be wise to follow him.
When a specific problem is identified, and a solution presented, a good bit of time successfully applying that solution is quite important to establish credibility.