IMO cooking is like any other craft/art/profession, you practice the basic/boring/rigid techniques until they become comfortable and you are able to see the possibilities in what is available.
The food editor and author Dorothy Parker referred to this as the art of foodmanship.
I would say the key to cooking is really liking to cook, so in spite of setbacks and total failures, you persevere, and find out what works for you and what you and anyone you cook for, enjoys.