Does YC have an approach on how to actually get founders to take advice to heart instead of just understanding at a surface level?
I've been building Internet companies non-stop since the mid 1990s. The only means I've seen or personally experienced to accomplish that, is personal suffering (only half joking). That is to say, going through it for yourself. The difference between book knowledge and hands on experience. Taking a punch to the gut (so to speak) provides an intimate, emotional, personal lesson in a way that reading about taking a punch to the gut simply never can. Your brain subconsciously makes a special effort to take note (forms of pain learning mechanisms) and ingrain lessons that it will not (and I would argue, can't) from reading about it alone. It's almost like something getting etched into your DNA, versus just having a surface tattoo. When you actually go through it, you acquire a kind of automated discipline (courtesy of said pain) that you can't have just from reading or being told; children and pets learn the same way from touching hot things.
Advisors could say what things to avoid, but then offer a path of- but if you don't want to listen to me, try this (small) experiment to see what happens.
I don't think there's any good substitute for doing, as a means to learn how to do start-ups, and more broadly understanding how companies should operate. That naturally includes working for other successful companies first for a couple of years, which is a tremendous way to learn as much as possible about the fundamentals of how companies run before striking out on your own.
If you apply to YC and get accepted, the program provides a lot more intensive support than just the articles on the website. So, I think the short answer is "Yes, you can apply to YC."
But, if that route is not going to happen for you, then articles are what they can offer to the general public. They also have video courses, as I understand it. But, those are still essentially instruction. If that doesn't do much for you, you probably need to find something providing greater engagement, like a hackathon or group of some sort where you can connect in a meaty way with other business people. That seems to be the gold standard: mentoring, making connections, etc.