I'm really struggling to socialize with people

I (24 M) work with a pretty nice group of people, I'm really grateful to have them but despite this I really struggle to socialize with people outside of my close friend group. <br><br>I've been trying to get to know some of my coworkers a little better but I'm really bad at being social. I'm a really awkward person who struggles with remembering little things, like names, birthdays, and even favourite drinks etc. <br><br>I'm feeling pretty lonely despite having a big network of social friends who do care about me, I'm really reaching out to post this hoping someone else is in a similar position. <br><br>Someone help me, I don't understand why this is so hard ?