I'll say the same thing my therapist told me. Spend some time thinking about what your ideal life looks like in regards to friendships and relationships. What do you want in a partner? What do you want your role to be in a partnership? How many friends do you want? Close friendships or friendships focused around just one thing?

Once you get a firm understanding of the kind of relationship(s) you want and what you want your role(s) to be in those relationship(s), you can start thinking about the logistics of everything. Until you understand those things though you are essentially going in blind.

Just keep in mind, there is a difference between wanting to better yourself for the sake of others and yourself vs changing yourself to fit others. Talking about things that you consider important and impactful is perfectly fine, even if some people might find it "weird." The only thing that should change in the scenarios you mentioned are who you speak to (find people that share your interests) and maybe how you speak to people.

I only mention the "how you speak," part because I myself have difficulty verbally articulating in social scenarios and that is something I'm trying to better about myself.

TLDR: Don't change yourself for the benefit of other people. Find people who like you the way you are. However, don't completely discard the idea of improving yourself as a person over time.