There are a million things...buit if it really must come down to 1 thing...it's Fold more.
if you are a recreational player, then by definition, you're playing for fun ... for entertainment. If you win, sure, its more entertaining, but many recreational players will say "I didn't come here to fold all night...I came here to play".
Well your attitude towards what starting
hands you're willing to play needs to be significantly reduced, You need to fold out far more hands than you do presently.
Further, depending on what position you are at the table, your range for pre-flop betting changes. The closer you are to UTG pre-flop, the stronger hand you need to open the betting. Check the charts, You're playing too many hands. Fold more!
OK...so you didn't fold pre-flop and find yourself with nothing more than a miss and some backdoor draws. Get out of there! Why do you keep calling these outside chances? Sure, sometimes you can get priced in and it makes sense to take a punt... but this is another source of chip leakage. FOLD MORE.
So you're still in the hand...you don't listen to me and you've ended up doing a runner runner for the straight...but there is a flush draw that comes in on the river. Villain shoves. And here you are feeling forced to call a shove you know you're going to lose to the flush. ....Sigh.
Stop getting yourself into so much trouble by making better decisions on earlier streets. Stop playing all that dross and put your money on a horse with strong legs and a shiny coat!
Cheers,
JT