How do I know if God is pleased with me?

Does it mean that when things aren’t going as smoothly as I hoped it would be, God is mad at me or punishing me?

That is not true. There are really circumstances that God allowed you to experience some delay to prepare you for better things. The reason why it is not running smoothly or the way you wanted it to be,is because he has something more bigger in store for you. God bless!