...have recently gotten a DSLR
Which one did you get? It seems from the section the D5500.
... I feel that just doing it will be the most beneficial process for me.
Indeed read and follow online courses (on youtube), but it is useless unless you take pictures.
Learn to be systematic:
Every time you want to take a picture:
1) What is light situation (can you improve it?).
2) What is the subject, does it need special settings (ISO 100 for high dynamic range, Shutter speed over ... for moving subjects, special depth of field, panning effect, etc...)
3) Can you work on M (full manual), do you need S (shutter speed priority) or A (Aperture priority) settings. P is still acceptable but avoid the rest for learning.
4) What are the ISO, Aperture, Shutter speed you need from the first points to get a reasonable exposure (you might under/over expose on purpose). Should you use extra lights?
5) What is the result, is it like you expected? Do you get the result on camera and in post processing (shoot for post processing?) as you want it.
6) If you have the time, do experiment with what you think might not work, maybe you are wrong and you like the result of "crazy" settings.
Clearly: as most of us have, why did I forget to be systematic and left the settings of last night now that it is lunch?