A FEW MORE EXAMPLES:

(1) I also have always hated recipes. It took me the longest time to realize I could browse through recipe books, find one I liked, and then radically alter it without being struck by lightning.

(2) I started improvising on the piano around age 13. Loved it. Got good enough - without any practice or formal improv training - that I made a good living improvising for dance classes and concerts. But I always thought I SHOULD learn the principles of jazz. One day, around age 28, I realized - “but I don’t LIKE most jazz” and that cured me. 44 years later, I continue to love improvising, and so far, have never felt the need for any formal training.

(3) I mostly have learned psychology (have a doctorate in it, but have not found ANY of my formal training useful for therapy - quite the opposite, I have made great efforts to forget as much of it as possible, and have something close to a 90% success rate)

Finally I would add, some people really do benefit from step by step learning as with Cook #1. I think a combination of both - scheduling and openness, step by step learning and finding one’s unique way - maybe the best; you just have to figure out which one suits you better.