(35M) How do very introverted and reserved older guys meet and connect with anyone?

I’m a guy in my mid 30s, always been very introverted and reserved, never really done well socially at all. Never dated or been romantically involved with anyone in any way (honestly, I don’t even know how to be “flirty” at all). There’s only been very brief periods of time where I’ve had very small friend groups (typically just ones I happened to fall into) but they always fizzle out. My last friend group dissolved in 2020.

I’ve never been good at finding ways to meet new people, nor at connecting well with others if I am around people, due to just being very introverted and reserved, and very socially “ignorant”.

After my last friend group dissolved, I tried forcing myself to find and go to random events and activities, but when I went to these things, I never really talked to anyone, nobody really talked to me, and I was basically just a quiet “background character” to everyone else, and I didn’t really care about the actual activities, so I really never had a very good time. It felt very draining and pointless, and I didn’t continue forcing myself to go out and do stuff like that anymore.

I’ve tried using dating apps but I never really get any matches.

I don’t have any friends or family or other acquaintances I can meet people through.

Honestly, I feel so alien and disconnected from the rest of the world. I don’t even know how to find and connect with people my age. It feels like most people my age are either already in relationships and have social circles they’re not really looking to add to, or they’re just focused on getting through life and keeping the bills paid and aren’t really “getting out there”. I’d say I probably fall into the latter. My life feels very insulated. I go to work, I come home and feel tired and exhausted, I use my weekends to run errands, and I spend my remaining free time indulging in my little personal hobbies at home.

At the end of the day, I don’t really have much confidence in being able to change my situation, so on one hand, I’m doing my best to make peace with the idea of having a very isolated life for the rest of my days, but it’s also hard to not feel lonely and whatnot, from time to time. I just feel like I can’t really see a way out of this life I’ve built for myself.