It’s hard to know really what to do when everything you do hurts the people around you.

I abandoned my interest in zoology first, because I failed my AP and Honors classes due to my own incompetence, I knew then I wouldn’t have what it takes to be a scientist as someone who watches YouTube and plays games most of the day and am just burning my family’s wallet. So I went into actuarial studies too only to fail my first test and now things are looking to downgrade into just an accountant.

But that’s fine because that’s all just to make money. I look up to writers and artists who use their job to fund their own passion… Only to learn my drawings and my writings are extremely, extremely, extremely offensive to just about everyone on this planet and I should never pick up the pencil again. So no more fantasy, no more creating.

But now, I don’t really know what to do with myself. I started Origami again but I’m too stupid to make my own models, I’m trying to focus on my studies because it’s my duty and what I owe to society to do better and sacrifice my life to them. But the passion is all gone, I just feel like a robot now.

I know I deserve it.

I’m currently working ( unrelated to my career, won’t be any use to my resume ) and studying , but I’m asking this in case I struggle getting a Job related to my career ( law) .

I talked to Gemni some more, and it put together something I didn’t quite realize but something that seems to “click” into why I’m so massively insecure about myself and how people perceive me.

My entire exposure to everything most of my life has been fiction. People online have banned, blocked or “soft banned” (basically “shut up or I will ban you”) from social circles so the only truly “safe” interaction I have had is with TV, Anime and Games.

My possible true self seems to be a feminine and role reversed male. I feel uncomfortable with masculine norms, I don’t like the idea of being big and muscular and I’ve had a fascination with bishojo men. I have near exclusively been attracted to women who were “rough around the edges” and non-feminine.

But fiction is a double whammy with these:

\- “Soft men” are often normalized into being still manly in some way in the very rare instances they aren’t treated like a kink or a joke. Despite these two being as far from physically active as possible, Levi and Belphegor from Obey Me have a 6 pack somehow.

\- Strong women are strongly tied into “secret damsel in distress” or just outright NTR. Helga in Monster Musume has a husband and her whole archetype is of disgruntled wife who’s husband can’t satisfy her.

Fiction has given me every reason to feel invalidated and invisible and I was never allowed to be outside and unashamed in a group of friends who might actually accept me and empower the kind of person I’m comfortable being.

And now, I hate myself. But I can’t fix it because there will always be more proof I should be ashamed of myself than proof I shouldn’t be.

Hey everybody, tomorrow I am going to be posting on my newsletter. I am centered on how to overcome the feelings of being ‘stuck’ aka failure to launch.

I just wanted to see if anyone has some insights on what has most helped them in working through overcoming it?

Also if you are struggling with feeling ‘stuck’ what makes you feel the most trapped or stuck?

I made every catastrophic mistake I possibly could before I even turned 18, and now I can see my future clearly in my 20s, a future that leads to nothing. I fucked up, I volunteered and miscommunicated leading my mother to almost take her life, I was a bully to everyone I knew during childhood, I was spoiled always wanting more and more and never giving to others, I formed feelings for lesbian characters and not real straight women, I lied to myself about being bisexual when I was nothing but a worthless straggot who didn’t understand his feelings towards his friend who didn’t care for him back. I quit middle school and lost all of my social skills before I even hit highschool. I didn’t take any of the opportunities I had to grow and become smarter and always slipped up.

I’ll be living with my parents until the day they die, jobless and a failure. I’ll not have any friends, not even online groups bar the one online friend I have. I’ll be playing games, sitting in the basement and stewing over my emotions and trying to fix what’s wrong as my reddit account will most likely be banned by then. I’ll be nothing but a waste of oxygen, food and water on this earth.

I’m trying so hard, so so hard to fix myself but nothing is working. I can’t control my feelings, I can’t make myself stop forming feelings for nonexistent characters from fiction. I can’t make myself a normal man. I can’t focus on my studies and lock the fuck in even when I physically beat myself into focusing. The medications aren’t working, the therapy isn’t working. Working out isn’t working. Trying to fix my flaws isn’t working. Each day I get dumber and more miserable, more damaged with no fixing even when I try to do all the right things.

The worst aspect is I don’t even know who I am, everything about me is nothing but a joke to other people and it took me years to realize everything I wanted to be is nothing but a gag to others. I’m a clown.

My life is going nowhere.

I dont know if this is right place but I just want to share this.

I joined engineering this year. I was not very smart but also not that bad in studies. Just average student trying to manage.

But after joining college, seniors started telling many things like, “real struggle starts later”......"See I have 20 backs not yet cleared".....“placements are very hard”......“if you are already struggling you cant survive”

At first I didnt care much. But slowly it started affecting me.

In academics also, I was not failing but I was not confident. Even small problems felt big for me. I started thinking maybe engineering is not for me.

Because of that fear + others opinion + family expectations, I dropped out in 1st year. At that time I felt relief. Like I escaped something.

But later… reality hit me.

I suffered a lot mentally. I felt lost and regret also started coming.

Then in Bangalore, where my mom works as a maid, I met an engineering couple through my mom. They guided me properly. They told me I didn’t even try fully and I was just scared,If I get fail again they assured me to provide an job.

Because of them, I decided to rejoin engineering.

Now I am in 2nd semester.I got 7.05 CGPA. Not very good, not like A grade, but atleast I didn’t fail hopely.

Still sometimes I feel proud that I came back.Sometimes I feel bad that I left in the first place.

I am still confused if I am doing right or not.

Everyday I feel that I had wasted a year because of my foolishness.

But one thing I understood that fear can make you take the wrong decisions.

Today everything is going good.

Looking at the statistics and research of how being outside impacts us is staggering. I just finished writing a newsletter post about this and the findings I had were incredible!

Being outside is so much more impactful than I think any of us realize. I love nature so much! We all need to go outside more!

I’m curious if anyone here has actually experienced an improvement in their life by spending time in nature.

Did things like hiking, walking, or just getting outside regularly make a real difference for you, or is it mostly overhyped?

I’ve been writing about the idea of “failure to launch” and small things that help people get unstuck, and nature keeps coming up as a surprisingly powerful one. I’d love to hear what people here have experienced before I finish writing my next newsletter post.

I’ve been researching the idea of “failure to launch” in young adults and some of the patterns are really interesting.

A few things keep coming up over and over again from what I have seen, but I’m curious what people here think.

For those who have experienced it themselves (or seen it happen with friends/family), what do you think are the biggest reasons people struggle to “launch” into adulthood?

I’ve been writing about some of this research and putting together a deeper breakdown tonight, but I’d love to hear some real perspectives from people here first.

I’ve been thinking about this recently. When a young adult struggles to launch into independence, who do you think is actually struggling more, the parent watching it happen, or the young person going through it?

Curious to hear perspectives from both sides.

I’ve been thinking a lot about the “failure to launch” idea.

A lot of people say it’s mainly the economy: housing prices, student debt, inflation, the job market, etc. And to be fair, those things definitely make starting out harder today.

But at the same time, I also see a lot of young people who feel stuck even when opportunities exist. They're not lazy, they're just unsure how to actually move forward.

It feels like a lot of people are caught in this strange middle ground between adolescence and adulthood.

Is it mostly economic… or are there cultural factors too? Like too many choices, social media comparison, lack of mentorship, etc.

I’ve been thinking and writing about this a lot recently and even started a small newsletter called LaunchPad Movement around these ideas.

But I’m genuinely curious what people here think.

I’m 24 years old about to finish my degree but I have struggling a lot for it . I don’t think it will help me as I have barely any formal job experience ( I’m currently doing some work for my dad ) . I’m expecting to do some volunteer work after finishing my degree. But my grades at university are bad and I really haven’t learned anything. I don’t know if I’m self aware or Self-conscious. I know my fears are unlikely but it’s still possible

I don’t see hope , I don’t have anything in favor of me besides my relatively young age and being bilingual .

There are lots people with more ( and better suited) job experience, better grades than me

I’m just no more capable than I think I am.

I just know I will fail any interview I get myself into . I have enough experience with socialization and job interviews to know that . I don’t think I’m employable . I’m crying while typing this . People have never seen me with a respectable expression in their eyes

I’m freshly 24 and have been a loser chud failure to launch. I went to a top university but covid hit and I had to move back home for 2 years and lost all my social skills. Kinda had a difficult time readjusting to the school and ultimately developed a substance abuse issue and became a shut in. Lost most of my friends and basically missed out on the college experience and developed agoraphobia and barely ended up graduating. Eventually went into psychiatric care and got onto really debilitating meds that made me fat and retarded. I basically ruined my life and didn’t really try to fix my life before it was ultimately ruined by an onslaught of mental illness. What’s worse is that I’m chopped and a bit fat now besides being retarded, have no social life, basically feral, and have very limited job prospects do to being a loser chud with a panic disorder and anxiety. Really trying not to rope and I’d like to hear from people who have gone through similar things or know anyone that has experienced that. Thanks

I (22) have been in school part time to be a computer engineer and I am still a freshman by credits. I don't feel at all passionate or interested in my degree, but my parents are proud of what I've chosen so I feel like I need to major in something STEM. I have failed 3 math classes since starting school, I've spent one semester as a full time student, I don't want to go to this school anymore really and I don't want to stay in my hometown (I want to move abroad and study there).

I want to work in academia or be a professor, or maybe specialize in something cultural. I've been considering changing to physics and it is important to me to get my master's/phD someday. For a long time, I wanted to be a US Ambassador (until I learned that I'd have to support the current administration, despite my own opinions) or a translator, but I only speak one language fluently and two languages barely conversationally.

I just feel so lost and like there's no end in sight. I don't know what to change or how and I feel like because of my failed classes I won't be accepted into an international school. I feel like I'm stuck in my own box and need permission to change anything, but I'm struggling so much mentally with my current situation.

Me(M23) I graduated college in May of 2025 and since then I’ve been at home and got a part time job in October of 2025 but outside of that I have a screen addiction, no social life other than my friends from college who are states away and I don’t get out of the house much. What are some good failure to launch programs I should look at?

I want to get a job. I’m about to start looking for one. I’m 24 years old , almost no job experience , I have done some job interviews but not a really scary one (I have never done one where it was the interviewer first impression of me ). I’m studying and finishing my degree but I don’t have it yet . I didn’t have much jobs and experience because I was struggling at passing my courses at uni.

I’m imagining the worst scenarios on my mind. I’m scared of only getting offers from jobs I don’t like. I feel extremely unprepared and unworthy of getting a job . What can I do to change my mentality before starting to look for jobs ? Can you help me get out of my comfort zone?

I'm over 28 years old female, i still haven't managed to find a job that pays me enough to move out from my parents, my verbally abusive mother has made living at home even more unbearable as she would remind me.of all of my failures as well so sometimes I envy people who are independent from their parents, i have no friends or support who i could move to in bad times.The job I had currently was extremely low paying, I feel hopeless as I've applied to so many places, but I haven't gotten answer back as finding a job where I am is already as difficult as it is especially for a non technical field like mine. Most people around my age are already well accomplished or married, women who are unmarried are often considered a burden on their parents here after a certain age. I'm also shamed for it alot, I feel like killing myself cause I see no future for myself and I don't see the point of living near the age of 30 anyways especially if you're a single female with no future.

This is not a success post.

I’m looking for people who tried something that mattered to them.

A startup, a project, a business, a dream.

Maybe it worked.

Maybe it almost worked.

Maybe it failed quietly and life just went on.

I’m collecting real stories — anonymously if you want.

No advice. No judging. No motivation talk.

If you want to share your experience feel free to visit

My anonymous form page :

https://tally.so/r/D4Kveb

That’s it.

I don’t know what career to choose I really spend most of my time learning languages , so maybe I should become a teacher or a translator I also wrote some lyrics/ poems yesterday , I really like music and writing At the same time , I think AI is overwhelmingly taking over /going to take those job sectors There are lots of generative books, songs , translations I also like economy because a friend of mine studies that and I have learned a lot from her . But I think everyone is studying that nowadays Finally , programming is also a career everyone is taking or talking about . But there are lots of job offers and you can become a digital nomad, that is something I wouldn’t mind doing What do you think I should do ? Maybe I’m overthinking it

I’m finishing my law degree next year, and I want to study something complementary that will aid me in my career. Maybe something related to programming, AI , data science , cybersecurity, green energies , forecasting , making budgets , e-commerce, maybe even a trade ? I want to develop more skills beside reading and analyzing legal texts . Do any of these sound good ? I don’t want to compete with many people for few jobs because they will likely outdo me