Career Update - Life After Stepping Down

Last October I made the decision to step down from my role as a global executive in the cybersecurity industry. The last 8 months have gone by in a flash, so I wanted to write a little update on how it's going. Do I regret the decision? Was it the right thing to do? Or have I screwed up the career I've spent 25 years building? The TL;DR is that I'm far happier now than I was back in October. I've battled with whether this was a failure, and I decided that I didn't fail, it was all just my ego. I've gone from working a ~60-70 hour week, to working a ~40-45 hour week on average (I'm contracted to 35 hours). When I sign off, I know my phone isn't going to ring. I'm doing work that I enjoy doing again, with a team I enjoy doing it with. More importantly though, I'm less stressed and I get to spend quality time with my family. That right there, that, is the most important thing. For example, since all my team are in the States, I tend to have late meetings. So on a Wednesday I shift my…