How Much Is Enough? Harness the Power of Your Money Story--and Change Your Life [Hardcover]

Pamela York Klainer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 24, 2001

Whether we are CEOs of our own start-ups, senior executives with stock-option packages, or keepers of modest 401(k) accounts who watch the NASDAQ with terror, our relationship to money and work defines our daily lives. Yet, most of us don't really know what we want from work or how the time we devote to making money relates to the "rest" of our lives.How Much Is Enough? urges us to step back and ask how money and success point us toward a sense of accomplishment and a feeling of self-worth. In this path-breaking book, executive coach and consultant Dr. Pamela York Klainer shows us how to improve our often-troubled relationship to money.Supported by real-life anecdotes and time-tested insights, Klainer uses "money" as a window into the core values and behavior of successful people -and of those working hard to be successful. Based on her experience as a consultant to thousands of leaders in fast-growing companies, Klainer offers a practical framework for defining -and linking-money, the drive for success, and our longing for happiness. Millions of us-from the boardroom to the home office-are shaken by turbulent markets and feel unable to shake the pressure to do more, better, faster. Dr. Klainer gives us the tools we need to channel the power of money in creative ways, so that we can map out the road to a more meaningful and happy life.Harness the power of your own life's "money story" as Dr. Pamela York Klainer shows you how to answer the four basic money questions: · Do you see money as for "me" or for "we"? If it's for "me," how do you create a sense of meaning about your life? If it's for "we," how can you find time outside of work?· How do you manage the power of money? Can you use your money to create meaningful difference in the world without riding roughshod over other people's desires and aspirations? · Do you see yourself as a provider or an organizer? How do you negotiate ownership of these roles, at home and in the workplace?· How much is enough? What amount of money will allow you to stop driving so hard? If you don't like to focus on money, why not? What are you missing?Money choices are about exercising personal power. By changing our money story, we can-in new and powerful ways-change who are about to become.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Even before September 11, more and more of us were expressing dissatisfaction with the widening imbalance between our personal and professional lives--and our numbers have doubtlessly increased since that day. Pamela York Klainer, an executive coach and workplace consultant, had been watching this feeling grow among her clients, and How Much Is Enough? offers her well-considered strategy for bringing career and home life into better harmony. Klainer's underlying premise is that we all have a "money story," a lifelong ingrained perspective on capital and the possessions it can buy that establishes our directions in life and work, and eventually whether we are happy with the results. Utilizing tools like a "money autobiography," she offers a method to help us understand the way we truly feel about money and the amount of it we think we need to meet our own definition of success. More importantly, she then shows how knowledge of where such thinking originates, and how it evolves, can be used for adjusting actions to reach goals that prove more satisfying. "How much is enough" may indeed be the underlying question we all need to answer for ourselves before a desirable equilibrium can be attained. --Howard Rothman

About the Author

Pamela York Klainer is a highly sought-after executive coach and workplace consultant whose clients include Fortune 500 companies such as Xerox, Kodak, and Bausch & Lomb; well-known non-profits; and brash technology start-ups. She is a nationally recognized speaker to corporations and associations, and has been the subject of articles in The New York Times Magazine, Fast Company, the Wall Street Journal, and The Industry Standard. She lives in Rochester, NY.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 336 pages
• Publisher: Basic Books; 1st edition (December 24, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0465037488
• ISBN-13: 978-0465037483
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,061,322 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pam Klainer asks questions we've been waiting for, January 8, 2002

By 

Rosemary C. Mitchell (Rochester, NY USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: How Much Is Enough? Harness the Power of Your Money Story--and Change Your Life (Hardcover)

Pam Klainer's book is both readable and profound. I couldn't wait to get back to it each evening last week. She gets right to the point while making no judgements. Money is part of our life -- in good times and troubled times -- and each of us has our own "money story". She asks the best questions that really, really make you think about your own life. This is not a "How to..." kind of book. And it definitely won't give you "10 Steps to Happiness". But you will want to talk about it -- so buy 2 copies. One for yourself and one for the person you enjoy talking to or need to talk to. You will finally talk about the important stuff in your life. Pam includes stories that engage your imagination and asks questions that engage your heart, mind, and your spirit. Parts of the book are almost like a workbook. If you are reading it by yourself, you might want to take notes or keep a journal. Pam offers questions, ideas and concepts that need to be discussed because they impact how we relate to those closest to us. This book is also an excellent resource for any couple about to combine their financial resources or for any household of people trying to come to terms with their different attitudes about money.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If you ask yourself "why am I doing all this?" Read the book, January 18, 2002

By 

Jean W. Philippe (Webster, New York United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: How Much Is Enough? Harness the Power of Your Money Story--and Change Your Life (Hardcover)

Everyone can identify with the compelling stories Klainer shares with her audience. I found the writing easy to read and the honesty quite engaging. It is the type of book one wants to read over and over at different stages of life and I suspect new riches are uncovered each time. Great work!

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book is more than enough!!, January 18, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: How Much Is Enough? Harness the Power of Your Money Story--and Change Your Life (Hardcover)

I so enjoyed Dr. Klainer's unique and inspiring take on a subject that has been written to death about. This is a refreshing look at the psychological symbolism that money holds over us. Dr. Klainer rightly asserts that to understand your money behavior in a logical and powerful way you must first become aware of your own personal money story. She demonstrates the concepts of her book by relating personal and professional storiesof her own as well as the clients she has worked with in her executive coaching practice. This is done in an engaging and interesting way. The diversity of the people presented, black,white,rich and poor helps any reader find a story to relate to. There are suggestions and focused exercizes to encourage you to uncover your own money story. A useful and important addition to the other more traditional financial advice books already in your library.