Though the maxim goes that finding a job you love means you’ll never work a day in your life, the past two years have unearthed a counterpoint: Devotion to an employer is often a one-sided romance.

In many industries, the pandemic revealed just how transactional the workplace is, and how hollow and fickle the relationship is.

Many people who participated in the Great Resignation have the capacity to be a friend who says yes to weeknight plans, a present partner to their fiancé, and a son or daughter who checks in with their mom regularly. These people can have thoughts on their own that have nothing to do with work and are no longer just careerists.

That a job doesn’t have to be a defining feature of your personality—or even a passion—is a new mindset for many Americans.

The Great Resignation is not a complete rejection of work. For many, it’s about redefining themselves as people first instead of workers.

As Americans discern that their job title isn’t the most central part of their identity, smart employers will realize they need to give more space to employees to develop other parts of themselves and develop other parts of their lives that they’ve been sacrificing for so long.

The “Great Resignation” isn’t really about rejecting work—it’s about redefining one’s sense of self.

The people who have found new fulfillment outside their career remind us that tectonic change in American society begins with individuals realigning their life to reflect their deepest values.