Follow the recipe and you too can become a great Chef

I am on a mission to become a good chef and treat my family and friends to some lovely food.
How can i become a top chef and how can i make restaurant quality food at home for less than half the price?  

I think that the answer is simple. A big step is the need to learn how to read and learn how to follow instructions and orders. I am at an okay level now and the only training i have had is by watching my parents cook and listening to them when they have told me what to do. Other than that i have read recipes in books and online and followed them point by point. More often than not i will read the same recipe five times before i chose what i am making and then at least ten times during the cooking process.

Pancakes made using BBC Good Food recipe

The main lesson and route to become a great chef is just by cooking. Practice doesn't make perfect, but it sure helps set you on the way. Sometimes you need to put all the fancy things to the side; the slicing and dicing you see on TV is just not my thing. I have tried plenty of times but the fast chopping just seems like a hazard to me and i'm scared i would lose a finger or two. The back stories of chefs are filled with hours and hours of work, chefs nowadays see to work at least five or six 12 hour days - PRACTICE.

When you practice continuously you begin to learn your own short cuts and with this your own tastes. From here, you stop reading the full instructions and start adapting the recipe as you see fit and this here is when you go from a hard working cook to the start of a good chef. Watching programmes like Masterchef and The GreatBritish Bake-Off you realise that not everyone is as good as each other, even though they are all following instructions- this is when the personality and individual skills come to the fore. This here separates the Shayans of this world and the Jason Athertons or Gordon Ramseys.

I am not saying that anyone can become a top chef, absolutely no way. But by practicing and following instructions we will all be on our way to being able to treat ourselves and friends to good food. 
I am ever so grateful to all the top chefs who have treated me to many, many great meals. The time and graft put into those meals is greatly appreciated and i hope that i can start delivering good food.