During my childhood years, I was pretty popular amongst the ladies. Still pretty young but to be honest, I was balling. It came naturally to be flirty and run after girls.
But all good things must come to an end. When I transitioned into my teenage years, the awkward phase began and talking with girls became a problem. All of the sudden, life turned into a chaos of emotions. This feeling stuck with me until college. At this point, more or less any social interaction carried a burden, a restless feeling with no apparent source.
And then I discovered the art of pick up. A system which would allow guys to turn a random girl into more than a friend. Funny thing about male psychology: there's this social pressure to perform well among the opposite sex and as kids, we place way too much importance in it. You are seen as being less of a man if you don't look and act according to this ideal male idea. But when someone tells you that you can learn how to become that person, you grab on to it with everything you have. And so I was hooked.
To be honest, I only executed on the things I was reading 2 or 3 times (completely rejected) but the content made me think about the world and myself in a different way. Through this vehicle, I discovered the world of self-development and these new perspectives made me return to form. My social anxiety was cured.
From what I understand, this path is very common amongst guys my age. The female struggles make us seek solutions and we end up finding something much deeper. Ourselves.