I wondered if anyone here was able to shed light on a problem I'm having.

I have always suffered from shyness/social anxiety. Like most people, around my best friends, I am completely at ease, I can crack jokes, and the conversation flows great. However, around strangers -- especially women -- I was always awkward.

This resulted me in having a poor dating life in my early years. Not awful, as I'm reasonably attractive so I got lucky sometimes, but not the dating life I wanted.

I found the seduction community when I was about 17 (over a decade ago now, wow!), and I have to admit it changed my life. Looking back, all the routines and canned material wasn't the sort of thing I'd like to associate myself with now, but it acted as a placebo. I spoke to girls, I met attractive women, and I seduced. Eventually, I shook off the whole "PUA thing" -- which took years, and is a different story entirely ;) -- and became myself around girls. Although with all the self improvement, a better version of myself.

These days, I feel completely at ease around girls -- far more so than most confident guys in fact.

However, my social anxiety never really went away.

This puts me in an awkward situation really, as when I meet people for the first time, I'm super awkward. This is the same with guys and girls, and especially in group settings, when I am in "make friends mode."

On a date, no problem, as I'm in "seduction mode." Even with a stranger. Out in bars and clubs, again, not really a problem, as I'm approaching girls in seduction mode.

Does anyone else have this? It seems weird typing it, but I can't be the only one. Many people here are probably drawn to the seduction community due to social anxiety/awkwardness, and with lots of practice we get the seduction side of our lives handled. But we don't invest the same time and effort in our social lives -- making friends with guys and girls, and being a socially competent, cool person.

(Of course, the confidence I've gained from the seduction community does extend to other areas of my life, but to nowhere near the same extent. The skills I've developed for seducing women would blow my 17-year-old self away, and having years of practice I'm pretty good at it and confident in my abilities. Compared to my seduction skills, my social skills have taken the smallest of baby steps, though.)

I'd love to extend my social circle, but my social anxiety holds me back. I'd also love to meet girls in social settings, like a lot of normal people do.

I'm not good at switching into seduction mode after meeting in a friendly setting either. Usually because my social anxiety and awkwardness is an unattractive trait, so turning on "seduction mode" feels completely out of character and incongruent with their first impression of me. But put me in a situation where I can go in all guns blazing and I'm fine.

I hope that gives some background of my situation, and I'd love to hear people's thoughts on how to get passed this. Do you know any good resources for beating social anxiety, as I think this is my biggest shortcoming that I really want handled. If anyone else has conquered this problem, or is going through it now, I'd love to hear from you!