If you sold 100 life insurance policies in a year (which is great for alot of people), you wouldn't call it a "failure". But you also wouldn't see the 1000 calls made, to set 500 appointments, to sit down with 300 (because some people won't show up), to sell those 100 policies. Seeing this person at the end of the year awards ceremony, you won't see the phone calls, the money spent on marketing, the miles driven, the mentors or books they spent money on. You just see the success.

Likewise with dating, most PEOPLE will never put in the time approaching, reading books on behavior or psychology, watching/paying for courses they can barely afford (good or not), getting rejected, etc...in order to have the kind of dating life they think they want.

TL;DR Put in the effort on the front end, before you expect results on the back end. You receive in your dating life the exact proportion of the quality/quantity you put into it. Results may vary