Hi Jimbo,
I'm glad you've expressed this sentiment. I've had the same sort of thing in all my hobbies, from languages, watercolor painting, R/C planes, plastic kits, and ship models. I'm 65 too, and about 3 years ago, I finally decided that I'm going to take each project on as a tool to learn just one or two (maybe three if they're not too much beyond my current abilities), and do it and learn it the best I can. I look up techniques, read books, and watch youtube videos of people explaining how they do it. I practice and just try to do it a little bit better than I did before. I'm not looking for perfection, because I'd noticed that all my life my desire for perfection kept me from having fun at the things I most love to do (conundrum right there). I like to review 'full builds' also, as there are many modelers out there who bless the rest of us with their how-tos, without which I would be in the dark. Right now, I'm working on a plastic Revell sub 1:144 scale that is teaching me quite a few things, like proper planning, weathering, and how to depict rust on the hull. When I get stuck, I study how the experts do it.
In short, I try always to 'go to just the next rung on the ladder', not focus at all about the roof, the end goal.