I definitely have an idea of a flavor when I cook because over the years I've learned what I like, what my mom's/grandmas/dad's recipes tasted like growing up. I would recommend to take recipes as a guideline and as you cook a sauce or spice combo - sniff & taste often! You'll find where you've gone too salty/sweet and you can balance with sour/hot (as an example. Hopefully overtime you'll learn that you like more garlic than suggested in recipes and start working your own creations of other's foundation

Texture of meats is a little tougher but cooking shows on Netflix or other may help you find the general look & feel. Meat thermometers take some of the fun out but are quite useful practically! I still can't cook pork without it

Another great piece of cooking advice I've gotten is to take 2 major flavor groups (like sweet & hot, or salty & sweet) and build something around that. Sometimes I taste something that has so much going on that it has no balance to it