I will be releasing my new book soon.

FOREWORD

My first book in 2008 spoke about ultimate wealth as being able to gather everything that was important in life – Money, Health, Happiness, Family and Friends, and Self-Actualization – not necessarily in that order. The only limited resource that we had to work with was time, and the challenge was achieving all of what is important to us within the time available to us. Just a few years earlier in 2003, when I had none of those five important things, I had just come to the realization of what constitutes wealth and I started my pursuit of all of them in earnest.
In 2003, I was grossly overweight at 126 kg (278 lbs.). In a quest to improve my health and thereby improve the quality and quantity of my time on this planet, I committed to do the Ironman, a very tough triathlon, by 2012. I did it by 2011. In 2012, I wrote my second book, about what it took for me to become an Ironman and how, in doing so, achieved health and my way to the five important goals of life. This is where I stand today by changing my ways.
Money – Through goal-oriented investing and hard work, I have achieved a state where I may not be extremely rich, but I am comfortable enough to live life on my own terms.
Health – Got my body and habits under control and remain committed to staying healthy. I have done 3 Ironman races and numerous other smaller races since 2011.
Happiness – In pursuit of it constantly and with a healthier body, enough money, great family and friends I am able to pursue dreams.
Family and Friends – I stayed true to a commitment I made to take at least 12 weeks off a year to spend time with my family, with my two kids aged 10 and 12 now, and friends.
Self-Actualization? Glad you asked  (what is a modern day book without an emoji thrown in?). That was a question I was not able to answer when I wrote my first book. Over the years, I have felt a need to give back. Politics sounded good but I probably would not like the crowd I would keep. Meanwhile, there has been a growing despair and frustration about the state of our world, pollution in particular.
I am now 48 and it is time for me to have a concrete plan on how I can give back to the world. Just like everything else, for me it has to be a conscious, goal driven target. Within the next few years, by 2018 if possible, I would like to be spending most of my time and energy on helping save our planet. In 6 years my kids will be leaving the nest for college and I intend to spend more time on activism.
Life is a journey and as I approach the so-called dreaded 50, as I expected, thoughts about aging and the purpose of life start occupying me. Advances in technology and medicine may well allow me to live to be a hundred, but key in my thinking is not to be a parasite to Earth. I do not want to sit back and wait to die, to hoard money simply for the security of my family. I want to give my kids the pleasure of chasing goals in life, to live life with a purpose. So it is with a very conscious effort that I control the direction of my life and set a new course on giving back to what I believe in, Earth and Humankind.
And just like my other achieved goals, I embark on my new life-project very goal driven. I have started reading to equip myself with knowledge, I have started saving to fund my endeavor, I have started a blog, my Facebook page (please go like www.facebook.com/ngunananthan) where I am posting articles and building my base of like-minded friends, and I am writing a book – this book – tools to help me educate and speak my thoughts to the world– in any way you see fit, help save our planet, please.