I'm not exactly in the same boat, but interesting read nonetheless. I'd suggest for the author to try online dating, seriously, even if only to meet interesting people and hone your social skills. I've gone on a handful of dates that started on online dating sites. It's a great way to get to know the person in a calm setting and you actually have a lot to talk about by the time you end up having a date. just my .02
try online dating, seriously, even if only to meet interesting people and hone your social skills
OK Cupid is used this way. I also knew a young woman who regarded online dates as "dating practice." (She was an avid martial arts practitioner.) If you regard the online dates as just practice, this relieves a lot of the pressure and focuses your attention in a way likely to improve your presentation.
About social skydiving -- I did stuff like that when I turned 27. If you psych yourself up, be confident, act like this happens all of the time, you can literally get 100's of phone numbers. Don't expect most of those to pan out, however. I found only about 10% of those were defunct or bogus numbers. But a majority of the remaining were not interested in me enough for me to get a date. Still, if you can keep your confidence up, you will get dates. If you can manage to genuinely have fun with your dates, then it will also lead to other things.
Keep in mind: you are doing sales. Expect a 90%+ failure rate. Pay attention to how your audience reacts. Make adjustments. Always be positive and cordial. Always keep your confidence up. Always believe that the universe wants you to experience happiness and beauty too.
Don't keep your confidence up by psyching yourself up with a sense of "entitlement." This can work. You can observe lots of guys working off of this. Unfortunately, it can turn you into an asshole and lead to big regrets.
One tip: if you and a beautiful woman keep ending up in the same places, she will sometimes warm up to you even if she seems frosty at first. But don't test that more than about 3 times with the same woman. Be cordial, positive, and after 3 meetings, move on. (Some of the best sex I ever had resulted from a circumstance like this. Caution: use condoms.)