Life, Law, and Limitlessness: An Interview with Siddiq Fazaluddin, author of From Lawyer to Life Coach

Siddiq started his legal career in 2000, qualifying as a solicitor in 2003 and eventually working as a partner in a leading law firm in London. He has acted for mostly vulnerable clients, motivated by his strong sense of justice. He started his self-development journey in 2008 when he realised that he wanted more from his life. He qualified as an accredited life coach in 2019, as an NLP Practitioner in 2020, and as a licensed trainer in DISC personality profiling in 2022. He is passionate about helping people understand themselves, achieving what they want from life, and enhancing their relationships with the people around them.

You can buy From Lawyer to Life Coach here.

Are you a writer, too? Submit your manuscript to Atmosphere Press.

Tell us the story of your book’s title. Was it easy to find, or did it take forever?

The book is about my personal journey, so I wanted a title that would mark the beginning and end of the journey, and From Lawyer to Life Coach did just that and it sounded catchy and easy to remember. So it didn’t take too long to come up with the title.

How did it feel when you first saw your book cover? Or when you first held your book in your hands?

For a long time, writing a book was just a pipe dream for me, even after I had completed my first draft. When I first saw the cover, it became real for me, and I realised that there was no turning back from there.

I was very happy with the cover design. I wanted a pictorial demonstrating an inner transformation and a change of mindset and the design did just that.

Holding the final version in my hand felt unreal; the fulfillment of my dream. I felt that this was my greatest achievement to date. My book is about helping others by sharing my own story and the lessons I learned along the way, and I was very happy that the book was out and that I could now focus on promotion and sharing my story.

Who/what made you want to write? Was there a particular person, or particular writers/works/art forms that influenced you?

After the death of my mother in 2016, I wondered what sort of legacy I would leave behind and this is what inspired me to write my story. I found it very therapeutic to journal and document my feelings and the more I wrote the more I realised that I had even more to talk about.

I have been influenced by a variety of self-development books, but in particular Steven Covey’s Seven Habits of Highly Successful People, and I wanted to write something similar based on my own life experience.

What other professions have you worked in? What’s something about you that your readers wouldn’t know?

When people ask what I do, I tell them I have three jobs and two side hustles! I used to be a partner in a law firm in the private sector. Now I work part-time as a litigation lawyer in the public sector, teach law at university, and also work as a studio cycling instructor at the gym. It’s nice to have a variety of jobs in different environments.

I am also a life coach, NLP practitioner and trainer in DISC personality assessments, and I offer these services through my coaching business, The Coaching Direction.

What was the most rewarding/meaningful part of publishing your book?

I like to network and when I meet people for the first time it’s not uncommon for me to mention my book. I often feel that I am able to make a connection with people in the very first meeting and they often ask where they can purchase it. It’s so rewarding to meet someone for the first time and be able to refer them to something which summarises your life and your ideology and something tangible that they can benefit from immediately.

If your book had a soundtrack, what are some songs that would be on it?

Survivor, Eye of the Tiger…an empowering soundtrack inspiring people to believe in themselves and overcome their inner fears; Vince DeCola, Rocky IV Training Montague…a powerful soundtrack inspiring people to take action and push themselves beyond their limits

What is one thing you hope readers take away from reading your book? How do you envision your perfect reader?

One takeaway: You can’t change your past, but you can change your future!

Someone who feels isolated and stuck in life, reads my book and can relate to my experiences on a personal level, feels inspired and takes action following a change in mindset…that’s my perfect reader!

What new writing projects are you currently working on? Or, other projects that are not writing?

In 2023 my book From Lawyer to Life Coach launched and the book is all about my own transformation. Also in 2023 I launched the website for my business The Coaching Direction which is all about the transformation of others by offering them the tools they need to transform their lives through life coaching, neuro-linguistic programming, and personality profiling, the same techniques which worked for me.

How was working with Atmosphere Press? What would you tell other writers who want to publish?

For a long time I wasn’t sure how to publish my book. Even after I finished my first draft I took no action for a year. I wasn’t sure whether to proceed with a publisher (they would have expertise but would take a percentage of royalties and would restrict my artistic license) or self-publishing (I could retain all profits and would have artistic freedom but would need to navigate the publishing process myself, which was rather daunting).

Then I saw an advert for Atmosphere Press on Instagram and it seemed like the perfect fit for me. I had the breadth of their expertise at my disposal with full artistic license and I could retain all of the royalties, so the benefits paid off overall. Atmosphere Press took me through the whole process step by step and every member of the team was so friendly and helpful, all of which gave me a lot of confidence as they were more than happy to address my queries and concerns.

I would advise budding authors to consider all options, but the Atmosphere Press hybrid model is a great option for first-time authors.

You can buy From Lawyer to Life Coach here.

Are you a writer, too? Submit your manuscript to Atmosphere Press.