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I suck at cooking. A couple of times I have tried, the kitchen was such a mess like you would see in a comedy movie or something. But a couple of really basic things that I have learned the hard way:

Get really familiar with the recipe before you start, prep your ingredients and measure things out. Most of my issues have come from trying to figure things out as I go, or neglecting one thing because I was busy trying to clean/prep in the middle of cooking.

It takes time for the pan to heat up, especially on an electric stove. Despite this, you almost never need to crank it up to high heat. Actually, lots of cookware specifically says don't use high heat. When I have used high heat, it usually results in a bad time, with hot liquids or grease splashing all over myself and the kitchen.

Chopsticks are really useful to turn certain foods, like bacon or bite sized pieces of meat.