How do I ACTUALLY improve?

Hello.

I would like to start practising my social skills on a consistent basis. The thing is, I’m not quite sure how? I spent *a ton* of time looking for the answers, but there’s so little practical advice. That’s what I dislike the most about this sub or the internet overall, when it comes to social skills. Even books are like that to some degree. There’s so much different advice everywhere and it sure is motivating, but unpractical.Also, a great deal of books and other resources focus mostly on the internal work. Things such as self-esteem, rewiring unhealthy thoughts.. etc. I believe I’ve already dealt with it. And I know all I need is to practise, to get out there and experience the discomfort. I’m quite confident that I can use my discipline to get through it.

What I’m here to ask is, what am I supposed to do? And how?

I don’t have any social network. I live in a relatively small town and I’m underage.

I’ve seen two things some posts here said that were particularly helpful. Talking to strangers and getting a part time job that has a focus on talking to other people.Regarding the second one, it’s very hard for me to find one, as I’m not an adult and there are only a few job offers that have requirements I’m able to meet. Also, most of the people-focused jobs require me to have good communication skills in the first place, which I find intimidating.Talking to strangers is something that I could get more comfortable with, sure. Eventually, as I progress and it will help me, what’s next? It surely doesn’t end there, right?

As I’m writing this actually, I realised I haven’t written anything about what I would like to accomplish. Here’s a list of my problems I have when talking to people who don’t really know me:

* I often run out of things to say
* I have a big “filter” and spend long time picking the right words to answer
* Generally I’m kind of stressed and tense, worried about the impression I make

Now, these things I mentioned above can be solved by the talking to strangers thing. I think.

But I also have this one big problem **even** while I talk to people who know me / I’m comfortable with:

* I have trouble with expressing my emotions outwardly. It’s not like I can’t feel them. I’m actually a quite sensitive person. It’s just that when I try to tell a story for example, it’s extremely unnatural for me to say it with that passion/emotion. This goes in reverse too, when someone tells an emotional story or vents, and they expect a purely emotional response from me.

Even though I didn’t explain it too much, but I believe this one is related to a lot of other smaller problems I have. If I can fix this one, the other ones will also go away. How can I work on it?

And just to clear my doubts; is it even possible to make such a big transformation? Let’s say in a year? I don’t want to just wait for my shyness to magically go away. I want to start right now and work on it, whatever it takes. Being awkward and invisible to people has been my biggest insecurity all my life.

Thanks to everyone in advance. And sorry if the post felt like a stream of consciousness / vent.