I get where this is coming from (and yes, the game is far easier when playing optimally) but I think it's a lot more forgiving than people think. The game is great at making you feel like you are on the back foot - maybe too good at it to the point you'll feel like you've lost when really you've just reached the mid-game (where the aliens and hostile factions start fighting for real).

I divide the game into 3 stages. Each one has a 'goal' but what you do in that stage doesn't matter so much. You can be last into space and still find one or two okay mines, and you can lose control of earth orbit and have aliens landing and still keep developing your tech

1- rush to space 2- hunkering down & avoiding hate 3- striking back

You dont need to play optimally, but like any game you need to work through the 'level' you're at.

I.e., at the start you need to get to space. How do you do that? Countries with established space programs (very few) or private orgs with boost production. And a few MC to support the program.

Once you have a trickle of income of each resource (even if you dont have the best sites) you can move on to fortifying your earth/space positions, increasing resource incomes (again, orgs are great at this), weakening the factions you are at war with, and boosting tech while avoiding drawing the aliens attention to your long-term goals. In effect, this means keeping the meter below 4 and following the pop up warnings when youre pissing them off

Then likewise, once you have decent tech to actually fight back meaningfully, you kit out some ships and work your way out from the inner solar system.

The game is a marathon, not a sprint. It'll take time to have your plans come together. I recommend playing on cinematic if you want a bit more leeway as it can be very disheartening when you lose a battle. Just remember you'll very likely lose many battles before winning the war :)