I want to be happy, but things like this keep holding me back.

M 23 working for almost 1.5 years. When it was time for a promotion last time, I cleared all the rounds but was benched in favor of more tenured candidates.

Now that the position opened again, I passed the assessment but messed up the group discussion. I’m usually a good speaker, but I panicked, and everything fell apart. I’ve been waiting for this moment for so long, and just when my performance, reputation, and behavior were at their peak, I let myself down.

I don’t know why this keeps happening to me. In the past, after failures like this, I never let the fire inside me die, I always pushed myself to overcome them. But this time, I don’t know… I just feel like I’m done.