I think you are absolutely right. While we all have natural talents and proclivities, being good at one thing, like coding, doesn't mean you're hopeless at another, like designing. I think coders expect that if we can't design as effortlessly as we code, we've got no business doing it, but if you put the same level of effort into learning it as you would a new technology, you'll probably be surprised at the results.
Can you share some of the best resources you've found for learning?
I have a list of pages that I find inspiring. The thread link and http://dribbble.com/ are great to find new ones.
Every once in awhile, I'll look through them and try to emulate something that is within my reach.
Here's a few recent ones:
http://dustincurtis.com/press_on.html
http://nerdcommunications.com/
http://www.thecleanestline.com/
I started learning Photoshop & Illustrator about a week ago. Youtube is great for tutorials on specific things such as tool usage, colors.
Just found this one for Illustrator: http://www.ndesign-studio.com/tutorials
Fonts are also quite important to catch people's eye. I'm dabbling in the free stuff now, but I think TypeKit is also quite nice.
I'm learning design because I don't want to have to rely on others to be creative for me. It's a slow and laborious process, but can be fun when I look back on previous projects.
2008: http://pycmds.appspot.com/
2009: http://www.caterpi.com/
2010: http://www.thrutched.com/
In my own path I'm far from there yet, though I know where I want to be.