Good post!
I have similar issues. Tracking is in some ways more exciting as you hear it all coming together and there's always that spontaneity when finding guitar tones etc.
However I still find myself sometimes having the misguided reaction of "wow! if thats how it sounds now, imagine when it's mixed!". This can lead to disappointment as sometimes I set my expectations too high and can end up overdoing it or getting overly self critical in the mix stage. I'm sure there are guys who could work wonders with my tracks but I still am striving to be that guy myself.
One day my mixing skills will catch up (I hope) a big thing I am trying to hammer home to myself right now is when to leave something alone ha ha. I do discover new things every time, this week it is "less is more". Simple automation and frequency cuts can go a long way.
Right now I am neither a engineer or producer, I am still "that bloke with all the microphones"
