Do lives ever improve?

Don't think the advise is to do nothing, to be honest. You have to play to your strengths and work on your weaknesses. Not always easy I grand you. But you would be surprised life is relentlessly stressful for many..

I see a lot of 16-21 year olds crying that they have no friends no relationships etc and the only advice they are ever given is "sit back and do nothing, everything will be okay one day" But does that actually happen? Is there anyone here whose life went from hated loser to lots of friends and loving relationship? Never happened to me. At 18 nobody liked me, and absolutely nothing has changed seven years later. From my own experiences and seeing studies on bullying, acne, autism etc the truth is that most people with low self esteem/poor social skills never grow out of it.

You can turn your life around at any age. But you have to want to change it by doing the work to do so. It doesn't just arrive for you one day like a long lost letter.

Yes, things do eventually change for people as they grow up but this is often in correlation with a change in attitude and/or behaviour. Maybe they are more confident, maybe they couldn't give a rats ass if it's cool to do this hobby or that one. Basically they grow into themselves. And if that's not the issue holding you back, maybe there's something unresolved getting in your way.

For me, I still really struggle to maintain relationships. I generally believe people don't like me and just humour me. Even though I know on another level that isn't true, the belief itself magnifies my anxiety and I pull away from people. But, I work hard to fight it and build new relationships...which works. I might still be surprised when people actually want to spend time with me but I'm gaining so much from being proactive.

That's nice to hear. However you said you got your girlfriend straight after college meaning you were likely under 21. is this true.