Uyo Meyo: Joy at your Pace in 2019

“What is Uyo Meyo?”, I asked myself as I swayed to the beautifully written lyrics of this trending song — at least the parts I could understand. I am Yoruba, but I must confess, ashamedly, that I struggle to speak the language fluently. So, understanding words from a Yoruba dialect, in this case, the Ondo dialect, was a stretch for me. But the tune was irresistible to my ears so I waltzed to it and promised to take a deep dive after listening.

To understand the true beauty of this track, I did a little followup on Teni and found out the very first time she made the tune public was on July 28th, about the time she graduated. Just before that, Teni had been super joyful about her younger sister’s graduation, which happened before hers, without an iota of contempt. She clearly suggested that celebrating with others even when your own joy doesn’t seem complete is the right thing to do. Why? When your joy comes, you can call out singing:

Kajo kajo kajo
kayo kayo kayo
Uyo Meyo leun o san o kan mi o e

The interpretation:
Let’s dance
Let’s rejoice
I rejoiced with you and now it’s my time to rejoice.

If you cannot celebrate others, you cannot invite them to celebrate with you, in truth, when your moment of joy comes. Also, celebrating others is a free way to calm the pressure that comes with stacking the building blocks for your goals. You started out on an investment journey towards a house, same as your friend. If he or she reaches the goal before you, probably because they had more to invest, celebrate with them.

#1: Celebrate more with others in the coming year. There is a peace that comes with that, and progress is easier to sustain with peace.

Building upon the first lines of the song, Teni went on to drop a few but powerful words of motivation in the first verse. These words, in particular, caught my attention:

If you work hard
You can climb the mountain tall
Cause nothing is too small
And nothing is too big

In this verse, Teni drops a sound piece of advice on compounding. Some goals might look pretty tough and present themselves as insurmountable mountains. But with little effort, that compound over time as long as one stays consistent, none of these goals will be impossible to reach — no matter how big they might seem. A brilliant one!

#2: Commit to compounding your efforts in 2019. Be consistent with whatever it is your hands find to do, particularly with your investment goals. No amount is too small to start with, the silver bullet is in getting started at your pace and staying consistent.

Finally, she rounds up the song with another solid verse which beautifully blends a prophecy and a prayer, as she closes up with a powerful rendition of the final chorus. Some words, again, in this verse stood out:

Ibi ti Daddy mi o de
Ma de be ma tu koja
Ibi ti Mummy mi o de
Ma de be ma tu koja
— — —
Interpretation:
Where my father couldn’t reach
I’ll get there and I’ll pass
Where my mother couldn’t reach
I’ll get there and I’ll pass

Looking at this you might be tempted to interpret it as a comparison, far from it as this is more about goal setting. A comparison is usually driven by contempt or a feeling of inferiority whereas goals are motivational targets usually built upon inspirational premises. Her parents have achieved success, and she is hoping to do better than them, hence, she’s creating goals out of that. We must note that she touched on the place of diligence before making this prayer. Why?

#3: A common teaching of the wise ones says, “Faith without works is dead”. So, get productively busy in 2019 — success is intentional.

My final words to you, in 2019 grow at your best pace. No pressure.