I'm a 26 year old guy, and I have recently been trying to reduce my dependency on apps to meet women and try my luck in real life. However, I have never hooked up with a girl that I didn't first meet on an app, and meeting women in real life is still something that's very daunting to me. In the past, whenever there was a girl I've admired from afar or tried to talk to, I would immediately back off at the slightest competition. Whenever I tried to talk to girls they usually seemed either bored, uninterested, or caught off guard, whereas others were able to engage them and make them smile/laugh, etc. So naturally any other guy chatting a particular girl up would mean I would just give up.

How can I deal with competition in an era where the dating world is more competitive than ever? I never feel capable of dealing with competition at all, and if I see any girl who interests me I always tell myself that it's not worth it to try my luck, that some other guy will just end up with her anyway. I honestly don't know what I can do to convince myself I actually have a chance. At least with apps you're not directly dealing with the legions of guys interested in the same woman. How would you deal with this? What would you suggest for an introverted guy like me with little charisma or experience pulling women without apps?