I’d like to post a perfect example of “Hope Chess” and of why I’m only rated 1389 USCF and not closer to 1700.

Nice. The second I did not consider my opponent's checks, captures, and threats before playing a move and it's move 27.

So my question is this: Are there any players out there who have successfully broken the bad habits of their thinking process and eventually broken into the 1800 rating range? What advice would you give to help train the thought process to stop making moves like 27. b7? Seriously, every game I lost in my last OTB tournament was like this in a winning position (maybe not so extreme). I have read Your Best Move by Per Ostman and I'm trying to implement his "process" to the best of my ability but it takes a lot of real practice - not just solving problems - to get rid of these bad habits. Any advice or suggestions would be great. Thanks in advance - and don't laugh to hard at that game!

Thank you, Natalia. It's always good to hear from someone as accomplished as you. You are exactly right to say I had gotten excited. All of those things you say, I know I must do them - the problem is keeping the presence of mind during the game. I feel this "psychological" aspect of my personality is the major thing holding me back as a player at this moment.