Psychologically, cold approach is extremely difficult for most men. You will get rejected on a regular basis.
The harsh truth is that most men who try cold approach ultimately fail. Success stories aren’t the norm, frustration and disappointment are.
Approaching strangers is a difficult path. You do feel like shiit when these approaches don't amount to meaningful outcomes.
In some cases, it might be the best option of a bad lot of options.
According to Wheat Waffles, my best option right now is focusing on daygame. I don't have a social circle or the time/capability to put together a social circle now as a 39 year old man. In 20+ years in the mating environment, I've never had a social circle. I've had friends, just not an adequate social circle.
Those rejection can easily fuel negative thought patterns (“I’m just not attractive enough”/”These women are bitches”/ etc.)
You are correct that cold approach rejections fuel negative thought patterns. I'd disagree with about the source of negative thought patterns today.
Most men today are taking the most abuse on tech-based dating forums. If you're to examine men 25-40 today, they have taken most of their rejections from some combination of dating websites, social media platforms, and swipe apps.
If you're using a swipe app or the Insta DM's to set up dates and getting a lot of "one date, no sex, no 2nd date" type interactions, you're going to endure traumatic emotional experiences. Additionally, you'll also be dealing with a lot of pre-date flaking too, which is also emotionally damaging. You need extremely thick skin to date via tech-based methods.
Social circle game, however, is king. It takes the longest to cultivate, but when you’re well-established in a few relevant circles, you’re ****ing set. Too bad most of us here will struggle greatly with entering and building social circles, because of how hard it is to make friends as an adult These days.
Social circle is great for getting a girlfriend. Pay close attention to the words "a girlfriend". That means one girlfriend. If you're looking for an extended relationship (2-5 years or more), your best bet for getting that with the least amount of grief and frustration is social circle. Many men who get social circle girlfriends tend to retain those girlfriends for a long time and often beyond the useful life of the relationship. A lot of the social circle girlfriend guys are beta males and beta males operate from a scarcity mindset. It's common to see a 10+ year relationship relationship from social circle which does lead to a marriage proposal. A good portion of social circle arranged marriages end in divorce, but it is likely fewer that initial stranger approaches ending in divorce or swiping/texting arrangements ending in divorce.
A social circle introduction is a higher percentage play than a swipe app interaction or approaching a stranger (either in a bar or non-bar setting). I've never had a social circle capable of providing me introductions so over the past 20+ years, I've either had to use technology or approach strangers to find dates. It's a more difficult path and it's not a path I recommend highly. Social circle is better in the shorter to medium term. You can get a solid, medium term (1-4 years) girlfriend via social circles more easily than through approaches or swiping more easily.
The problem with social circles becomes sustainability. For instance, I've lived in my current city over 10 years. Social circles have a way of getting pissed off at men who continually exchange girlfriends without marriage or babies, even if the relationships are semi-long (1-4 years). After 2 or so instances of medium term relationships, the social circle will run dry. Social circle is not likely ideal for serial monogamist who does have extended relationships but doesn't commit or the player type who tends to have relationships of less than 1 year.
In theory, you can fix this problem with relocating and re-creating social circles every so often. In practice, that would never happen. Relocations have a way of ruining social circles. Also, after age 30 at the latest, you're not getting into a good social circle in a new city if you relocate. You can get friends if you relocate after 30 but you're not likely to get a social circle that will provide you introductions to quality girlfriends, unless you can manage to be a mid to late 30s year old guy who mainly socializes with mid-20s people. That last sentence probably isn't going to happen.