Meet Tiferet Cohen

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Tiferet Cohen. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Tiferet below.

Tiferet, we’re thrilled to have you sharing your thoughts and lessons with our community. So, for folks who are at a stage in their life or career where they are trying to be more resilient, can you share where you get your resilience from?

I guess the initial response to this one is being an Israeli, we kinda don’t have a choice about this one… But personally, I think it comes from a survival instinct. I didn’t have the most easy life. My mom passed away when I was 11, then about a year later my dad, unfortunately, lost his business. Around the same time he started dating someone who made my life a living hell. I started working when I was 15, left home when I was 18 (just after high school) and had to build my won life. It made me work hard to gain the stability I was missing and obviously, made me stronger with every experience that came with it.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?

Today I’m a full-time singer-songwriter, but up until a year ago, I was a full time software developer.
I sing ever since I can remember, my mom always used to say that when I was a baby, instead of crying when waking up, I used to call her by singing.
I wrote my first song just after she passed away, when I was around 12 y.o. I sang in various ceremonies and settings throughout the years and even studied in Rimon, which is one of the most known music schools in Israel.
But, because my dad lost his business and money was an issue for me and my family, I knew I had to also get a “real job” if I wanted a normal and stable life. I started working for startup companies as a QA Engineer and then went and studied Computer Science and became a software developer.
My initial plan was to combine and work on my music on my free time, but after a few years in the tech industry, I realized I left my music behind. I gain the stability I wanted but abandoned my passion.
So, I started working on my debut album, releasing my first single only a month before October 7th massacre. After that I was trying to hold my head above water with my full time job and to promote my music and got caught up in trying to do everything all the time and almost got myself in a sever burnout. I was in a horrible place, mentally and emotionally. After a lot of time thinking it through and a life changing trip to Thailand, I realized life was too short and I have to it. I was finally in a place where I trusted myself and believed in myself enough to quit what wasn’t right for me anymore and start all over again, knowing that the stability is within me and I can make it without the big high-tech money. I quit my job about a year ago and it’s been the best year of my life, finally doing my own thing and re-inventing myself.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

I think one of the most powerful lessons I’ve learned is self-belief. Only after a long in-depth journey with myself I really started to believe in myself, that I’m good enough, that I’m talented and that I deserve to release my music and to sing and to tell my story, only then I was able to evolve and make these life changing decisions that got me to where I am.
Other than that I think that it’s important to look fear in the eyes and not let it beat us.
In general, I think life is like a video game. You have the monsters trying to fail you but you know you can beat them, you just have to not give up and do it again and again until you complete this level and get to the next one.

What do you do when you feel overwhelmed? Any advice or strategies?

I used to get overwhelmed a lot!
This is where my tech experience really helps me. In my role as a software developer, every project is big and you have to know how to dissect it into smaller projects so you can manage your time and workload better. I use the same technique in every project I’m doing (and everything can be referred to as a project, whether it’s a concert, new song, or creating content for social media) – smaller pieces gets the job done better and it’s less scary and way more manageable. It also helps with the success feeling – small accomplishments are also accomplishments!

Contact Info:

Image Credits

Saray Oz
Niv Smitline
Maya Erel

Suggest a Story: BoldJourney is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems,
so if you or someone you know deserves recognition please let us know here.
Productivity
What do you do for self-care and what impact has it had on your effectiveness?

We asked some of the most productive entrepreneurs and creatives out there to open up

Resilience
Where do you get your resilience from?

Resilience is often the x-factor that differentiates between mild and wild success. The stories of

Productivity
How do you keep your creativity alive?

Keeping your creativity alive has always been a challenge, but in the era of work