29, losing confidence at work, and starting to feel stuck in life. What would you do?

Career Advice

I’m 29 and working in marketing. In my department, I handle a lot of different things like events, social media, websites, agencies, and other business-related tasks. I honestly try my best, but no matter what I do, my managers keep saying I’m weak, the department is weak, or that I’m not competent enough.

At one point, my manager even told me to change my career because it would be better for me.

Since working at this company, I feel like I’ve changed in a bad way. I’ve become lazier, I stopped going to the gym, I have less confidence, and I take less initiative. I also want to get married and build my life, but I feel scared that if I lose this job, I will feel completely lost.

The way my managers treat me is also not good. Sometimes it feels disrespectful. My biggest problem is that I stay silent no matter what happens. Even when I try to say I’m good at something, my manager reacts like I’m joking and starts listing all the things I’m not good at.

What makes it worse is that many people leave this company very quickly. In fact, people who join this department often leave after a very short time, so I’m starting to wonder if the problem is only me or if the environment itself is unhealthy.

I also struggle to stand up for myself. I think part of the reason is that if I speak while I’m angry, I might lose control, so I stay silent even when I feel humiliated. But now I feel like if I keep living like this, I will lose respect for myself too.

I don’t even have strong career goals in the normal corporate path. Most of my real goals are more entrepreneurial. I just feel stuck, tired, and unsure what to do next.

Has anyone been through something similar? What would you do in my situation?

Posted Apr 3, 2026, 4:46 PM UTC

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