Is it true that we can teach ourselves skills faster by following the steps used on HOW TO guides?

I'm referring to guides like "THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO X", "THE ULTIMATE LIST TO X", "THE ULTIMATE BOOK TO X", etc.<br><br>I see them on websites/newsletters and most of the time, I find them to be very useful and to-the-point.<br><br>Since most of the time, I can rely on them and use them as a guide to better myself and for someone who's trying to become a software engineer, it feels good whenever I can rely on something because I'm really struggling.<br><br>But I guess with self-improvement and learning, if I use these guides too much, it'll be hard for me to truly develop my skills. And learning from scratch will be even tougher.