Patience, my friend. Patience.

One of my chess.com friends once wrote that so long as you don't make tactical blunders in chess, you often win most of your games. 

I found this especially true in the 1600-1800 category. When I analysed my games, most of my defeats are down to the fact that I had overlooked my opponents tactical idea. 

Hence, I have been trying to avoid tactical oversights in my games whilst trying to create practical problems for my opponent to overcome. This usually results in my opponent making a blunder and presenting me with opportunities to win my games.

The best chest players of course know how to mix strategy with tactics seaminglessly. It transpires that often, one gains tactical opportunites from a superior position. 

So, I guess the fastest way to improve rating is to ask yourself the following question before playing each move: 'Are there any tactics in this positions?' You'll be amazed at the results.

Here's a game which I hope illustrates this example clearly.