I feel like my Life is going nowhere. Please give me advice so that I can change it?

Welcome to Fluther.

First, take a breath. Relax a little bit. Lift up your chin and look out at the horizon (seriously). It’s a long way off, and so is the end of your life. Farther than the horizon, that is.

You’re young, and you have a long life ahead of you.

I know that you’re in India, and things are different there than they are here in the States (where most of us live, but we have jellies from all over), and I know that because I’ve been there and I work with people there a lot.

But some things are not so different.

Parents always want what is best for their children, but they don’t always know best. If your strength is in software, and if you like software development and have skills in that area, then maybe it’s time to thank your parents for their sage and well-meant advice – and definitely pay attention to the specific things that they warn you about! – and go where you feel is best.

And from what I know about the Indian power sector – and believe me, I know more than I want to know about that – I would strongly advise against that career until the inevitable shakeup occurs and BHEL is fully divested, along with NTPC, and a viable “market” for power emerges. That is, a market where people actually pay for it, for one thing.

India. Hmmm…..isn’t that the place where they still have those ridiculous “arranged marriages” ?? Meeting your spouse for the first time at the alter…..what could possibly go wrong ?

@CWOTUS is right. Give your parents your sincere thanks for their opinion regarding your life, then try to follow your own instincts and proceed accordingly. Yes, that sounds cliche’, but is the right path for you to take.

With a few exceptions, most of us are just living-out our past choices. Don’t make the mistake of having to live-out somebody else’s choices, even those of your well-meaning parents….

You have spent two years trying to pursue the path that your parents wanted for you. Now you need a job. A job with a software firm sounds like a good bet. Figure out why your parents object and answer their specific fears. Like, “I have researched the salaries and they are as good as banking and better than power companies.”

Do not worry about wasting your life or losing two years. Things happen as they are meant to. Start today to make your own life.

I’m sorry that you are having trouble making friends. In India, do young people join clubs or organizations in which they have a special interest like danging, music, stamp collecting, etc? If so, think of something you like to do and then find a group to join.

Here is a video you need to see. (If this is not available directly in India, which is altogether possible, then you should find out how to view TED talks – they’re available worldwide – and then look up “Angela Duckworth” and “grit as a predictor of success”.)

This is something that you need to take to heart. I have a feeling that like a lot of young Indians I meet, you have a feeling that “doing the right things” will lead to a successful career, a good marriage, a pleasant and happy family life and a comfortable retirement. And “the right things” include taking the prescribed classes, passing the tests with good scores, accepting the apparently well-meant advice of elder family members and professionals who tell you to “go here” and “do this” and everything will work out.

I’m probably older than your parents, and I’m going to tell you – as Angela Duckworth sort of tells you in the video – that’s nonsense. The world is changing too quickly and too unpredictably to rely upon former comfortable paths to success. Your success will result from your application of effort and intensity and time, and repeated failure, and refusal to quit.

Which is to say that you will fail – you should fail!, and often – then learn whatever lesson you can from the failure and go on to the next attempt, the next endeavor.

I’ve recently been recommending Scott Adams’ “How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big”, which also contains valuable advice that can help you right now.

All is not lost. Depending on your circumstances, move out, and maybe you have to do a job that you don’t like, for a little while. When you move out though and have a job, find your time to learn how to become a software engineer. Not only do you get to travel, but you are defining your maturity and reclaiming yourself.