Feeling lost in UI/UX— is this normal or a sign I should switch careers?

I’m a UI/UX designer with a year of experience and I’m honestly feeling very confused right now. Posting here because I genuinely need some perspective.

In my last organisation, I underperformed. I was very early in the field and didn’t really understand proper UX thinking or research. I ended up relying a lot on AI tools to design screens instead of actually spending time thinking through problems. I was the only designer there, had no real guidance, and after around 4 months I was put on PIP. I eventually resigned.

After that, I started spending a lot of time online, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, reading about UX. Everywhere I look, people are saying UI is becoming less important and can be done by AI, while the real value is in problem framing, design thinking, research, decision making, etc. Basically the UX side.

So I decided to take that seriously and actually learn. I started practicing with the help of CHATGPT by breaking down real products I use daily. For example, I picked WhatsApp and tried to analyze features like “view once” messages. I tried to explain what problem it solves and why it exists.

When I got feedback from GPT“this is not acceptable at a product designer level yet.” And instead of motivating me, it just made me feel like shit.

Now I’m stuck in this spiral: Maybe I’m not good at thinking deeply

Maybe I’m too late

Maybe UX isn’t for me

Maybe I should switch careers before wasting more time

At the same time, I do want to understand the “why” behind things. I don’t just want to make pretty screens. I just feel very slow and stupid when I try to think like a product designer.

For people who’ve been in UX for a while: Is this normal early on?

Did you also struggle to frame problems and articulate thinking at the beginning?

How do you actually get better at this without constantly feeling like you’re not cut out for it?

Any honest advice would really help.

also how & where to learn these skills?