I’m approaching 40 this year. Around 20, I missed an important uni deadline, and meant the degree I had planned would cost me an extra year I couldn’t afford (like literally couldn’t afford the tuition). Managed to finish, but with a degree no one would recommend. Was absolutely panicked.
Ultimately, ended up very successful in a job in a country on the other side of the world. Met the woman who is now my wife of 13 years, had some amazing adventures, moved to a few more different countries, changed industries again about 10 years ago, and worked my way up to upper management again before leaving that field too.
TL;DR No, stress has brought me nothing but misery, I have no regrets except that I didn’t enjoy the ride as much as I could have.
Learn new stuff as you work, or as hobbies (my entire second career started as a hobby). Don’t be afraid to “fake it till you make it” and keep an eye out for jobs you didn’t even consider as a possibility. I personally avoid corporate gigs, smaller independent companies are more likely to notice you and use you for the skills you bring. Life can fly by, enjoy the ride.
I’ll second CBT, it helped me a lot. My therapist started with identifying my “core beliefs” like “worrying* helps me avoid bad things” and “worrying makes me better at my job” and then through some structured routines helped me change or event disregard them. I’m very analytical and she really helped show the illogical nature of all the time I spent worrying.
That said I first needed a low dose zoloft prescription to even be willing to book the therapy, but I’ve since weened off it.
*specifically hypothetical worries, i.e. “what if”