Bruce Lee was a remarkable human. His philosophy is well-suited to any lifestyle that encourages self-improvement, and it is particularly well-suited to those in the creative arts. Thinking on, “no way as way,” regarding mastering is really the essence of what mastering is. There are no absolutes one must adhere to, it’s all about perception and expertise aligning so that you pick the right tool for the actual task at hand. It’s about resisting habits and default settings so that your knowledge and your actions are fluid and seamless, each informing the other. Everything has a context that informs its reason for being at this particular juncture in time. Sometimes it means subtle moves to really highlight an emotion, other times it may be simply final quality check on a perfect mix. That is the way of no way.
This is not to say that templates and presets can’t be useful, they certainly can. Workflows are sped up, sounds quickly roughed in and a layout and ergonomics benefit immensely from such streamlining. However, I’d suggest trying to allow yourself a few minutes to truly consider if this template or that preset is really serving the music or task. If so, embrace it. If not, don’t feel obligated to use it. You may discover something even better.
As you gain experience don’t dismiss checking in on basics from time to time. Are those default settings still useful? Is this way the best way right now? Trust your experience and let it guide you. Every record you make will build on that and be forever creating new ways to explore and expand.