Some really great stories here. Mine is really boring. I was a software dev./architect for 23 years and have been a bus driver for three.
You should try branching out hut don’t lose your networking and don’t let your skills slip until you know for sure you don’t want to go back. (or perhaps can’t go back because AI is doing everything for us)
Find the motivation. Probably already stated here. You have to WANT to do it, be doing it for yourself in addition to whatever else the big motivating factor is.
For me, it was not losing my family and wanting to not feel like shit both physically and mentally all of the time. I wanted it though. I’ve seen a lot if people fail and the one thing in common is that they are always doing it because someone told them to.