How to Plan in Chess

I'll be honest.  I normally do not make an actual clear cut plan when I am about to play chess.  My chess is based on developing pieces and improving piece after piece getting them as active as possible until I see a tactic or they just get traded off because my opponent saw them as a threat, then I will have to rely on my endgame skills.  The games I play however do not usually go to the endgame.  Usually, my opponent has a plan of his own and will win, or I just win.  So the remedy is obvious.  Start developing clear-cut plans that I can use to gain an early advantage, rather than just shuffling pieces, though I am not exactly woodpushing, an idea without a plan is the recipe for failure.

Here in this game, I am just playing an opening my coach taught me.  Any chess player can fall asleep while playing this line.  Because, it's easy to play, and creates a bind in the center that cannot be expelled unless white breaks at multiple points all at once.  In this game, I am also applying general chess principles, and later, saw a mating threat, which I used in the end to mate the enemy King.