From an instructor's point of view:
1) Practice, practice, practice.
2) Airwork is crucial.
3) For you helo bubbas, get rid of the kneeboard on your right knee (use your left knee). The object of this is to rest your right forearm on your thigh and control the cyclic with just your wrist (much like resting the barrel of your M-16 on a sandbag)
4) Always keep yourself positioned on the approach plate concerning 3 big things: radial, distance, and your heading.
5) AVIATE first.
6) NAVIGATE second.
7) COMMUNICATE third.
8) Finally, know every symbol on your VFR and IFR maps before we even start any RI brief - if you don't know what you are looking at, you are going to have troubles.
Good Luck, (I thought they sucked too....)