True.

I've seen a lot of beginners (typically those who learn through various YouTube videos and a some online pagess, but not through a systematic guide like a book) having a hard time deciding "what a super simple project" is.

For example: after learning the basic concepts of loop and condition checking, they have no idea how to utilise those in a very simple app. I say "hmm try to write a simple word guessing game... or a simple food ordering app". Usually you'll find various exercises provided in such books.