I think I'm being quietly pushed out at work. How do I tell for sure?

One bad week is noise. A pattern across several of these, without a clear explanation, is signal: 1. Fewer invites to meetings you'd normally be in — not one skipped meeting, a trend. 2. Your manager goes vague or avoidant instead of giving direct feedback, especially if they used to be direct. 3. Work quietly moves to other people, and when you ask why, the answer is thin or deflects. 4. Your 1:1s shrink or get cancelled more than they used to. If you're seeing two or more of these over a month or more, don't wait for someone to say it outright — most companies avoid saying "you're being pushed out" directly for legal and comfort reasons. Ask your manager a direct, calm question: "I've noticed X and Y — is there a performance concern I should know about?" That question alone often surfaces what's actually happening, and if the answer is evasive, that's itself useful information. Start quietly updating your resume and network in parallel either way — it costs you nothing and means you're not starting from zero if the pattern turns out to be real.