My life
I’m a 24-year-old guy and I feel completely stuck. I lost over 100 pounds and have been lifting consistently for a couple years, but I still struggle badly with self-esteem. A big part of it is hair loss. I started thinning young and it makes me feel older than I am. I constantly compare myself to other men and assume women aren’t interested in me before I even give them a chance.
I’ve never had a relationship, never dated, and I have a lot of social anxiety around women I’m attracted to There’s a woman at my gym I’ve had a crush on for almost 2 years. We make eye contact sometimes and I’ve had countless opportunities to talk to her, but every time I freeze and leave feeling awful. The weird part is I know logically that talking to her won’t hurt me, but I still can’t seem to do it.
I also realized I spend most conversations asking questions and rarely share stories, opinions, or things about myself. I had a pretty isolated upbringing, did online school, don’t feel like I developed socially the way most people did and I’ve spent years avoiding situations that make me uncomfortable. Recently I quit weed because I felt like it was helping me avoid my life, but now all these thoughts are hitting me even harder.
Has anyone else been in a similar situation where fear, avoidance, low self-worth, lack of dating experience, and feeling behind in life kept them stuck for years? What actually helped you break out of it