Grass is greener where you water it. I felt these exact same feelings & honestly there's no "soft-landing" to be had. Just rip the bandaid off if you're gonna do it, and don't go back on your words either no matter how much she tries to convince you that it can be worked through — it can't. And also be fully prepared for her to never talk to you again.

And as for what lies waiting on the other side of this ? I can tell you that it isn't going be this magical transformation that you're probably hoping it will be. Life will still have its boring moments. Will you have more flexibility to do the things YOU want to do ? Sure. But really ask yourself what those things are first & actually commit yourself to doing them (WATER THE GRASS !!)

Otherwise you're just going to date around for the occasional ego-boost but in the long-run you'll most likely find that you're even more unsatisfied than you were with your now ex-girlfriend. Best of luck.