Basically I'm at level zero as far as Game and general social interaction is concerned (moreso with women than men) due to having a bit of social anxiety.

I've been working on it by trying to spark conversations with girls I meet (mostly girls serving me in shops as interaction is expected) Not with the intention of hooking up but with the intention of normalizing interacting with them (ugly or attractive I talk to them the same way)

I've noticed two things I'm struggling with:

  1. coming up with responses to unexpected questions/replies from girls in real-time. ie: if they throw me off with something I wasn't expecting it takes me about 10-30 seconds to come up with a good response, by that time the "window" feels closed.

  2. If they respond negatively, it like I have a weird conversation shutdown reflex, and it's impossible for me to keep the conversation going currently.

Thats the basic level I'm at, does anyone have strategies or advice for progressing past these 2 issues?