I like threads like this, and follow them vehemently.
I tend to remember little snippets and quotes. One that jumps to mind for example is that you should always keep something in reserve - both in terms of your abilities as a pilot and in your aircrafts performance. That way, in an adverse situation you always have something extra in the bank.
Another one - that when performing aerobatics of any kind, allow yourself the '2 mistakes' rule. In any manouvre, give yourself height to;
1. Recover from the failure of the manouvre
2. Recover from the failure of the recovery.