Maybe you have hit your zenith for that stuff in particular. Things are exciting while you're getting all the wins of the low-hanging fruit. But then the wins

Maybe you have hit your zenith for that stuff in particular. Things are exciting while you're getting all the wins of the low-hanging fruit. But then the wins get harder and farther between, and familiarity breeds contempt, and after a while I don't want to put in the effort for the next win. In that field. So I switched fields. Now I'm an educator. And holy shit, it's something to step out of a decades-long developer career where you have a pretty good handle on it into a field that's radically different and you know nothing. For me, it was a fresh start. I proudly look back on my time in a megacorp, my time in a dot-com startup, my time working in a AAA game studio, my time as an independent contractor, my time in the business I cofounded... Good times. Worth it. But now, tiresome to think about continuing. Luckily I've entered the new world of education, with so much to learn, and so much to explore, and so many new ideas that are with pursuing, and so many challenges. I'll probably never write software for hire again, and that's fine with me. I got my own stuff to work on, and it keeps me plenty busy. Two more things: For me, 50 was the hard birthday. Can't pretend you're 39 anymore. But on the plus side, some liberation comes with that. You don't need to pretend you're 39 anymore. Let that wisdom show through. Anecdotally, some people have had success with shrooms for finding their way. Not saying that would be you, and I'm no expert, and everybody's different, but it might be worth some investigation.