In my twenties I watched a ton of food network. Just seeing numerous chefs and culinary educated pseudo celebrities doing the same techniques and using the same ingredients to do a lot of similar shit is how I picked up basics. Knife grip, how to chop, deboning, etc. Prep work. Learning the diff btw sweating and sauté-ing and why you would do one v the other.
I watched a ton of Alton Brown in Good Eats. Largely bc I like that Mr. Wizards World educational format. I know she gets flack but I also watched a lot of 30 minute meals with Rachel Ray. More for techniques than recipes.
Immerse yourself in cooking media. I found cooking is fun and experimental. Recipes are guidelines and once you know your palette and flavors you can have fun - baking on the other hand is a science in which tributes to God's must be made, or maybe I'm just not good at baking (in all seriousness cooking is fun baking is chemistry).
Edits for typos