I used to be friends with a guy who was a "3" out of 10 in the looks department. Every girl he dated was a retail coworker who worked closely with him, so they were essentially "forced" to pay attention to him. But every time he tried dating apps (and dating websites before that, to give you an idea of how long he was trying), he got nowhere. Not a single date in 6+ years of using "technology".

I myself am not much better than him. I'd rate myself a 4...maybe a 5 out of 10. The relationships I've had were all with girls I interacted with in college on a daily basis. Again: more or less "forced" to interact with someone they might not give a second look in any other social situation. Since I graduated college 10 years ago, it's been a near-continuous dry spell, despite the fact that the women my age have supposedly "matured".

If I may mutilate a Gandhi quote, in situations where women "must" interact with you and you're not physically attractive, the brutal truth goes like this:

First they force themselves to tolerate you, then they're ambivalent towards you, then they become desensitized to you...then you win.

If you're an unattractive guy, your only hope is to interact with a girl long enough that she stops being "consciously" aware of how unattractive you are and her attention shifts to your personality (assuming that isn't total dogshit, of course). That's the best advice on getting a date for most men.

If you don’t want to be the average guy then you just have to try your best to get above the bottom 80%, which sounds impossible however due to the obesity epidemic going on globally, if you’re an American then just being not overweight will put you above 50% of your competition. Becoming visually fit should do that rest if you’re not a midget or deformed in the face.