When you play poker, you need to know why you are playing.  If you are playing for money, you need to stay sober, you need to focus.  Don't watch TV while you play, don't chat too much, pay attention to the other players and the cards.  You should be thinking about making your odds pay, taking advantage of the other player's mistakes, etc.

Now, what if you're just playing for fun?  Ok, that's fine, fun is good, your goal now is just to not lose money.  You want to be able to mix it up a little bit, have some fun, but not lose your shirt.  So, ok, that's fine.  Don't worry about the small factors too much, just don't lose all your chips when you're beat.  Make sure you fold when you're almost surely beaten.  Try to play reasonably smart and don't just throw away your money.  Take pleasure in good folds.  Trash talk when you're not in the hand.  You don't need to be in every hand to have fun.  Don't get drunk.