Carpe Annum

A term meaning "Seize the Year" coined in 1995 by author and speaker Jay Payleitner as a takeoff on "Carpe Diem." Payleitner later created a 250-word inspirational essay making its way around the internet. (Below is an excerpt)

CARPE ANNUM
Advance with grace and assurance into the next twelve months. What you will achieve, whom you will be, one year from today has not yet been determined. The mind gladdens imagining the possibilities.

Surely, there’s work to be done. Lessons to be learned. Mountains to be moved. Dark forces to be vanquished. An urgency, yes. Yet tempered with patience that accompanies an eternal perspective.

Begin by doing what comes easy. That’s your sweet spot. A gift to give back to the world. If you can dance, dance. If you can build, build. If you can teach, teach. If you can hug, hug with all your heart.

Proceed with excellence. Then be ready. Sometime in the next year—serendipitously, but not really—you’ll discover a truth that changes your life forever.

Step into your mounting quest with confidence, not compulsion. Each day is long, but the year is short.

Strive not for 365 endeavors. Breathe. Pause. After all, there are trees to climb and stars to count, dandelions to pick and lullabyes to whisper.

To seize each season, do what's right in front of you, and do it better than anyone thought you could. Live in your own lane—not someone else’s—doing what you’ve never done. And the year will be yours. The best ever.

-- Jay Payleitner

"For lots of reasons I did squat in 2021, but I pledge to Carpe Annum in 2022. Or not."