In addition to Val's
excellent advice-- I'd also like to point out that it is very seldom
too late to start doing things differently.
Oh, sure, there are opportunities that come only once in a lifetime, and you can't regret them when they are gone. I'm never going to tour with the Stones or pitch a major league game. Then again, I was never going to do either thing anyway. LOL.
But what I mean is that life is long, and strange. It takes you a lot of interesting places in due time. ANY of them could be maybe not "THE" thing-- but certainly "A" thing. A passion of the moment or of convenience still teaches me things that are interesting to know.
I am also a DEEPLY introverted perfectionist. I just have to keep my senses open to things that suit my nature. I couldn't
bear to go back to being a professor.
Which is just as well, as I rather slammed that particular door shut upon leaving to care for my then-toddler, I fear.
Instead, I do things that help people that I'll never meet. I don't need credit, and I just need to do it well. I can do that. It's complicated, and cross-disciplinary and requires constant learning in two VERY different domains. I can do that too. I'm not someone searching for a deep passion in my life, anyway. I'm
content, and industrious-- and that is actually just who I am. I make the world a better place. that's enough for me.
But anyway-- being able to land on your feet is a pretty underrated benefit of a high IQ, in my estimation. My DH and I both have this ability-- in spades.
We learn quickly, we adapt, and we remember what we've learned and can apply it. We also know enough to know when to
stop and think for a moment before proceeding.
Those are soft skills that are priceless--
at any age, any task, any endeavor. 
