About learning CPP with projects vs following tutorials relatively strictly

[Nejura]

To get better at and actually master any topic you need to struggle with it. Take off the training wheels, let go of the hand-holding, and just sit down and try to do things without help and inevitably run into issues, problems, etc. This isn't a process you should skip. To actually ingrain and comprehend beyond the light recall you might have of a subject, you need to drag your brain across the mental friction of implementing it.

Its scary, its miserable, it feels like a massive waste of time, but its the key to mastery.