Yogis have said you are not the doer but you are up close so you feel you are the doer.
You are controlled by the planets and karma. If you do righteous deeds you advance and make progress, but if you make bad deeds you cannot control your actions - but you will still think you are the doer.
For some maybe it feels life is going against them. That nothing works out and they have bad luck whereas others seem to have so much luck compared to them. But remember when starting to do good deeds bad deeds are released instantaneously so it could seem it is getting worse to do righteous actions. but this will pass. Better release your bad karma now and have better times coming instead of bad to come.
So actually if the goal is self realization or being free of suffering there must be actions and righteousness. This is the key.
Doing yoga and meditation , without doing things that benefits others without self-interest . Will not make so much progress for anyone.
If someone want to make a rapid change they will need to take all the opportunities to help others without self-interest which is also known as karma yoga.
If someone feels as if everything stands still, changing attitude and helping others will make them see progress very quickly. Remember if you are being honest and for example you lose money because of that , would be seen as negative for most people at that moment but remember lying in that moment to get the money is the wrong way according to dharma and the path of yoga.
Most of us have not told the truth or not being honest if we applied for some economical help like milage or whatever it can be.
Anyone in the path of yoga must decide whether they want to be relieved from suffering or not if they choose to be they better implement good actions in their daily life , starting from today.
