Good Life Project When to Quit (Jobs or People): How “Jolts” Drive Big Changes | Anthony Klotz
Mar 9, 2026
Anthony Klotz, an organizational behavior professor who predicted the Great Resignation and wrote Jolted, explores why small shocks can trigger big career and relationship moves. He discusses pandemic- and AI-driven jolts, honeymoon hangovers that cause first-year quits, reframing quiet quitting as healthy resizing, and practical responses like pausing, diagnosing, and choosing voice or exit wisely.
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Jolts Explain Sudden Career Change
- Jolts are unexpected one-off events that cause people to stop and rethink their relationship with work rather than slow push/pull factors alone.
- Anthony Klotz links pandemic disruptions and mortality salience to widespread jolts that triggered the Great Resignation.
Quit Contagion Lowers The Barrier To Change
- Observing others quit creates contagion that normalizes disruptive change and provides social courage to act.
- Pandemic-era visibility of quitting amplified epiphanies and made risk-taking feel more acceptable.
Outside Life Improves Work Performance
- Nonwork activities like nature exposure or side creative projects improve next-day work performance via cognitive, emotional, social, and physical energy boosts.
- Klotz links evening nature time and side hustles to better mood, pro-social energy, and sharper cognition at work.
