My main reason was that I felt programming into advanced age was an untenable career path, since I'd have to expend more effort competing with fresh CS grads. T

My main reason was that I felt programming into advanced age was an untenable career path, since I'd have to expend more effort competing with fresh CS grads. This was a concern for me as my wife and I were planning to move overseas eventually, where the talent bar was higher. Additionally, I also had exposure to leadership and people-oriented thinking during my tertiary study, which I found stoked my fire more so than programming. While I still get joy from programming, upon reflection I've come to realise that my career in IT was borne from a love of programming in isolation in my younger years. Working in a team environment on projects I'm not invested in, sapped my passion. Also, because I had worked in IT for so long, I had developed a disinterest in the field, so I didn't want to work it in even in a leadership capacity. Simply put, it was time for a change. I now classify it as a hobby, and enjoy daily activities in my new role which are rich and interesting again.