The little piece of advice i would like to pass along (from my tremendous 80hrs experience) is that the checklists are your friend. They are there so we dont skip anything important (like a governor or perhaps something like frictions.) The checklist will remind you of things you might have otherwise missed.
It was early in my training and I was having a flight with an instructor other than my regular one, so perhaps I was trying to show off. I blew through the pre-start checklists trying to be all slick about it. Started the engine, and then a couple seconds later it just died. It was pretty embarrassing, but at least it wasnt deadly. In my haste to start up and get in the air, i forgot to push in my mixture. luckily i skipped something that didnt damage the a/c and didnt put anyone in any danger.
BUT I MIGHT NOT BE SO LUCKY THE NEXT TIME. So now i follow the checklist and double check everything on it.
Just another thing to think about.