“Muster up your courage and take that risk” works for most, but for some it’s like telling someone with ADHD to “just calm down and focus.” I say this as someone who was paralyzed by fear of rejection. When we start out like that a couple of rejections early on can have a devastating effect on one’s social life. It was pure luck that I was in the right place at the right time. That said, it’s probably a relatively small number of cases that are so extreme.