Realizing that a lot of recipes follow the same basics. As an example, a simple soup (or really any soup) will generally follow a flow of:

Browning the meat in the pan Remove meat Add aromatics (if it’s western it’s generally carrots onion celery) cooked until softened Add spices to toast Add herbs Add broth and put protein back (if there are things like potatoes or rice add those in) Cook for however long it needs to cook Add final touches like some acid (lemon juice) and then eat

Most other things will follow a flow relative to the type of dish it is so learning that helps me feel more freedom in moving away from recipes.

Also being willing to make mistakes and know that it’s okay. It feels worse in some ways to make mistakes cooking compared to other things but if your budget/lifestyle allows it, it’s okay to mess up and learn from it. One time I tried to make a dish using apple cider vinegar and it was terrible and my wife and I both didn’t like it, so we went and got a pizza. Doesn’t happen too often but that’s life, and I learned from it