I suck at it. Conversations with people I know are not a problem, neither are exchanges with cashiers, uber drivers and security at work. But whenever I see an opportunity to talk to someone I fail the 3 second rule (after there was already eye contact), meaning 3 seconds pass so anything after that becomes awkward and too late

My issue is speaking my mind, directly, without hesitation. I grew up in a kind of conservative/introverted family and was bullied in school so maybe that's why I'm struggling but I want to practice and improve my social skills in that area.

From reading various FRs I notice the best things to say are personalized / related to the environment you're in. Like, "what did you think of the opening band" or "my cousin has the same XYZ where did you get it from" or whatever as opposed to the "hi, how are you" or "you're beautiful, wanna get a drink" crap. What's your approach and technique? Do you just go out to the park, sit next to a girl and talk? Do you go about your errands and approach as you see an opportunity?

I'm lifting a lot the past months (been told by a couple of people that I look stronger) so continuing to work on improving my image and get more of a confidence in general. Hoping that makes it easier to approach cause I've heard the "you shouldn't care" stuff but it's still difficult for me at this point