Alumni Story: Finding More Happiness

For most of us, happiness is an aspirational way of living. For Cassie Mogilner Holmes ’98, it is a livelihood.
 
Throughout her career, Cassie has studied happiness with a focus on the role of time. Explaining the catalyst that drove her to pursue this area of study, she shares, “One evening early in my career, on a late-night train home to my 4-month-old and husband, I was about to give it all up. I felt exhausted and utterly overwhelmed. There was too much to do and not enough time to do it all, let alone to enjoy any of it along the way. But instead of quitting my job as a tenure-track professor, I rededicated my research agenda to solving this very problem that plagues so many around the globe.” 
 
Cassie decided to use her research to develop and teach what has become one of the most popular courses at UCLA’s Anderson School of Management: Applying the Science of Happiness to Life Design. “After years of teaching traditional marketing courses, I made a decision driven by happiness: I would develop a course that would teach our MBAs and Executive MBAs how to achieve greater satisfaction in their professional lives and their personal lives.”
 
After learning of her course’s impact on the lives of her students, Cassie yearned to expand the reach of her teachings to those outside her classroom. She published her first book, Happier Hour, on September 6, 2022. The book provides a practical guide with actionable strategies on how to think about and spend time living a more joyful life.

Cassie shares, “How we spend our time defines who we are, the memories we cherish, and how we will be remembered by those we leave behind. I developed a new framework for how individuals should think about and spend their time to experience greater fulfillment in their days and increase satisfaction with their lives.”

Cassie’s research uncovered important findings that highlight the high level of happiness that stems from personally connecting with people and with the present moment.

• Merely thinking about time (vs. money) boosts people’s happiness.
• Age influences the way people experience happiness and the types of experiences that produce happiness.
• Having too little or too much discretionary time hurts happiness.
• Gifting time through experiences cultivates happiness in relationships.
• To feel happier, people should spend their days on a variety of activities but their hours on more similar activities.

For those Torreys following in her footsteps, Cassie advises: “Regardless of what field you’re interested in pursuing, work hard and focus on the activities that you enjoy.”