We never said it was easy we said you have to keep trying in order to gain experience, learn about yourself and hone your skills. You get flummoxed on just trying once, and you're not going to get anywhere. It's very rare that the first person you ask out is going to say yes, whether they're generally not interested or already in a relationship. The point is if you get so hung up on one person and take that rejection as the end all be all, you're not helping yourself to chug along and find new people. People always scoff at "plenty of fish in the sea" but it's true. There is not "one person" for everyone, there are scores of people over the course of your life but if you remain closed off and insular you will never meet these people.
When I first entered college I was very insular and shy, I already had a boyfriend but my confidence in socializing with others was shit. So I started forcing myself to talk to people whether commenting on something I liked or asking them a question (sometimes something I already knew or wrote down but I just wanted an ice breaker). You can't be stuck in this mold of "it's too hard" and expect results. You have to throw yourself out there. The anxiety you feel is so much worse than actually talking to people. People want to talk to other people, we're social animals. Start acting like women are just another person to engage with and not some majestic foreign creature. Talk to them like a peer. They'll take notice and talk back. You don't have to look good.
There was a guy in my class whom I did not find particularly attractive but he talked to every damn girl in that class. Guess who all the girls said hi and bye too even when not in class? Him. He was noticed. None of the girls scoffed and rolled their eyes when he approached them because he was *Dave. He wasn't angling to get something, he was just friendly and it helped that he knew a lot about design. I'm still in contact with him like many women whom he went to class with probably are because he wasn't afraid to talk to us and hit us up for contact information. It never seemed like "oh wow Dave you're so gross why do you want to know my info." It was a polite exchange between friendly classmates. Looks don't matter when you're being a genuine person. Attractive/hot people have to work at it less but that doesn't mean you should ever count yourself out.
*not his real name