Maybe the problem is risk aversion? I mean, your skills probably led you to a series of good, well-paid positions that gave you enough credit score to buy a scarily large amount of debt (and sink it into property.)

So now you can’t afford risky endeavors that can imperil your financial stability, you actually need boring and conservative projects.

No offense, I’m also in that boat.

Also, what used to be eye-opening hardly earned discoveries look rather mundane to you today. The amount of work needed to achieve that same level or surprise doesn’t grow linearly.