It will take way more work than you expected. But the reward will also be greater than you expected. Yup Oh yeah. The average person cannot fathom how much work it takes to get good at pickup for a hard case newbie. It's like climbing mount Everest. This is why few people get good at it. Most people are just way too lazy and take socialization and dating for granted. They want it to be effortless. If  you are deeply introverted it will be a serious challenge because it goes against the grain of how your psyche is structured.