BOOBS!!!
Now that I have your attention, I have some advice. Coming from someone who went from utter nerd, to accepted, to partygoer, to cool, to confident, and finally in a 2 year relationship and still going strong.... I've seen it all.
I've been rock bottom.. depressed.. hurt.. mangled.. I've felt that pain and I know it sucks.
But it's not that bad, there are many types of fixes for this situation, you just have to be creative; here's what worked for me.
1) Confidence. Drop pride and shame from your vocabulary. Shame and pride are useless. I repeat: USELESS. Confidence is worlds apart from those 2 worthless words.
1a)This means not being a wimp, speaking up, valuing your own opinion and using your knowledge wisely. Be able to laugh at yourself. Be able to take a woman's rejection and laugh your absolute ass off about fucking up.
There are over 1 billion women on the planet. Fucking up with one is not the end of the world. Make note of your mistake next time, and play with it.
1b) In order to have and keep confidence, you have to be able to deflect those who are trying to crush it. One thing you have to realize is even most "players" are wimps. They make fun of shy people all the time. The trick to dealing with assholes is to think ahead and find out what makes them tick. There IS a way to spin things back at assholes and make them look bad without using a direct insult. This way you don't get verbally or physically assaulted, and you come out looking superior in minor and major confrontations. Use the brain you are gifted with to give yourself power.
2) Expand your network of friends. Meet people, anyone! Talk to anyone and everyone. Sit next to the cute girl, push yourself into a fun circle at a party, slip comments in during class, but make sure you make comments with confidence and not meek so your opinion is valued. People want to hear you, but they don't know it yet. And they definitely won't know it if they can't hear you, or if you sound like your opinion is worthless.
The single most important thing I can say about meeting new people is take down every single person's number like it's your job and you're selling something. I don't care if they're ugly/beautiful/annoying/stupid/smart/tall/short/whatever. It doesn't matter if you hang out with him/her once and it sucks. The reason you absolutely have to follow this rule is that you never know. You never know if that annoying 1-eyed crackhead has a super hot, sweet, never-goes-out gamer friend who is dying to meet you!
3) Mystery. Usually (not always but usually), it's in bad taste to give away your life story in 2 minutes, keep things light hearted and fun. If you observe someone who is good with women, you'll notice something. He usually keeps the topics on her instead of himself. Less is more. Unfortunately, mystery is tough because, important as it is, this one is highly dependent on both the man and woman in question. The right balance comes with experience.
4) Cardio and calisthenics. 15 minutes a day of cardio will brighten up your mood and make you think straighter, respond quicker, feel sexier. Calisthenics will tighten up your look. Don't ignore this one, it could easily be #1 on the list.
5) Dress better, takes showers.
6) Education is highly important. I don't mean videogame trivia. Try to get a basic understanding of everything so you're not left out in conversations. Remember to be able to laugh at yourself if you have no idea. Don't be afraid to say "What is that, I don't know!"
Important tip: If you're in a group (with her in it also) and someone makes fun of you for not knowing something, shrug them aside and tell em to enlighten you since they seem to be masters of the subject. This will assist in making you look in confident (#1).
7) Try things you've never tried before. I don't mean illegal or dangerous things, but live a little more on the edge. You only live once, so be openminded if you feel sheltered. There's always someone who fits in less than you do at the club ;-)
8) There will be people who resent the new image you are trying to create. These people are not your friends. Disassociate from them until they come around, and if they don't, drop em. As long as you stay strong in your morals, there's no reason for people to hate on you. Find high school pictures of Jennifer Garner and you'll quickly see what I'm talking about.
9) Try a new approach to things everyday!
EDIT:
Holy shit forgot the most important rules.
10) Move quick. Once you find out that you're interested in the girl you're speaking to, find out if she has a boyfriend that same day/evening. A direct question is perfectly fine. If she asks why, say you want to know because you'd like to grab coffee with her, study with her, go to a bar together, drink somewhere, whatever. If she ducks the question, tell her you're a pretty direct guy and value straight answers. If she still ducks it, tell her it was nice talkin to her and go back to whatever you were doing, as she's wasting your time.
11) Following 10, always have a Plan A and B, depending on what type of girl she is. Eventually you will get so good that you will be able to make up things on the fly just by looking at a girl's nonverbal language.
12) Also following 10, if a girl is vague about her intentions with you, DO NOT bring it up verbally. The last thing a woman wants to hear is "Do you like me?" or "Do you think I have a chance?" Let it flow. You really CAN tell when a girl likes you. When she's waivering, either you two aren't compatible, she had a bad day, her dog died, it doesn't matter, and frankly it's not your job to figure it out and wait around. Remember there are a billion other girls that have potential to be a helluva lot more compatible than that. If she seems like she's enjoying your time and you just can't figure out if she likes you, then try to kiss spontaneously. Don't secondguess yourself. Contrary to popular opinion, unless alcohol is involved, there is no "right time" to kiss. If she's not interested or waivering, then she's wasting your time. If a girl tells you she's been hurt before, don't wait around forever. Tell her she's sweet and all, but you're just looking to have fun and maybe meet a great girl in the process. Then tell her you had a great time and excuse yourself. If she's really interested, your directness will prompt her to come clean. A waivering confused girl (or one that plays mindgames) can easily rip your newfound confidence away. This is something you're not interested in! Remember, you want to start dating girls and having fun, not become a psychotherapist to a nympho who wants to have sex with everyone but you!
13) Listening is important. Make sure you listen to what she says and have direct answers.
14) Be spontaneous, most women like this.
Finally, as stupid as this sounds, watch the movie Hitch that just came out w/ Will Smith. Me and my girl saw it on Sunday, and I'll be damned if there wasn't some damned good advice in that flick.
Good luck all!