What is the best way to improve understanding of strategy and endgames?

My goal for 2019 is to reach 1600 rapid rating (currently sitting on a shaky 1430) and at this point in my chess development I feel that I would benefit mostly from improving my understanding of strategy. Currently the positions I struggle the most with are the types where early exchanges have been avoided, all pieces are developed and well-defended, and most pawns are also still on the board, so there are several pawn breaks to consider. Because of the lack of immediate tactics and the sheer amount of options (should i go for a pawn break or maneuver a piece to a better position?) I often don`t find anything productive to do. 

I`ve done several strategy lessons here on chess.com but while they give useful tips on how to improve one`s pieces and teach students about concepts like open and closed positions, good bishop vs bad bishop, control of diagonals and files etc, I`d like some examples how you actually turn those things into tangible gain. Also, each video is around 10 minutes followed by 5 relatively simple exercises, not exactly enough to gain a real insight into how a strategic advantage decides a game. 

I could probably do this research on my own, but I would like to know from you players out there, how did you go about improving your strategical understanding?

Possibly helpful:

https://www.chess.com/article/view/test-your-positional-chess

https://www.chess.com/article/view/do-you-really-understand-positional-chess

https://www.chess.com/article/view/get-ready-to-test-your-positional-chess-again

Simple Attacking Plans by Fred Wilson (2012)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708090402/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review874.pdf
http://dev.jeremysilman.com/shop/pc/Simple-Attacking-Plans-77p3731.htm
Logical Chess: Move by Move by Irving Chernev (1957)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708104437/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/logichess.pdf
The Most Instructive Games of Chess Ever Played by Irving Chernev (1965)
https://chessbookreviews.wordpress.com/tag/most-instructive-games-of-chess-ever-played/

http://store.doverpublications.com/0486273024.html
Seirawan stuff:
http://seagaard.dk/review/eng/bo_beginner/ev_winning_chess.asp?KATID=BO&ID=BO-Beginner
http://www.nystar.com/tamarkin/review1.htm
50 Essential Chess Lessons by Steve Giddins
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708100833/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review534.pdf
http://www.gambitbooks.com/pdfs/50_Essential_Chess_Lessons.pdf
Simple Chess by Michael Stean
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708104258/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review400.pdf

http://store.doverpublications.com/0486424200.html
Amateur's Mind by Jeremy Silman
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708094419/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/ammind.pdf

https://www.silmanjamespress.com/shop/chess/amateurs-mind-the-2nd-edition/

Chess for Hawks
https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/9041.pdf
Chess Strategy: Move by Move by Adam Hunt
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708093249/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review890.pdf
How to Reassess Your Chess (4th ed.) by Jeremy Silman
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708095832/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review769.pdf

https://www.silmanjamespress.com/shop/chess/how-to-reassess-your-chess-4th-edition/
Chess Strategy for Club Players by Herman Grooten
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708101926/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review696.pdf
Pawn Structure Chess by GM Andrew Soltis (2013)
https://web.archive.org/web/20140708101523/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review908.pdf
The Power of Pawns by GM Jörg Hickl (2016)
https://chessbookreviews.wordpress.com/tag/the-power-of-pawns/
https://www.newinchess.com/media/wysiwyg/product_pdf/9034.pdf

Modern Chess Strategy

http://store.doverpublications.com/0486202909.html

Silman's Complete Endgame Course

http://theweekinchess.com/john-watson-reviews/theres-an-end-to-it-all

https://web.archive.org/web/20140708103149/http://www.chesscafe.com/text/review594.pdf

https://www.silmanjamespress.com/shop/chess/silmans-complete-endgame-course/

Thank you for your reccomendations. I`m already reading Irving Chernevs "logical chess: move by move". 

Can you give us an example? Show me a position where you feel stumped and unsure what to do, and I'll tell you what my thought process is.

https://www.chess.com/live/game/3454052791

How do I post still pictures of positions?

Basically I can state that you don't need to learn "strategy" or "endgames" at you current level. That's because you should focus rather on creating your opening repertoire and improving your tactical vision. What is the point of knowing how to play rook's endgames if you are down an entire rook? Also you need a coach to explain you common knowledge of chess strategy at practice.

P.S. I'm a chess coach and I'm offering 10$ per 90 minutes high quality lessons.

Overall a good plan comes from well-played opening. Also to create a strategy you need to learn basic chess concepts about center, flange attacks and so on and so forth. The best way to learn it is to be taught how to create a plan in the specific moment from your game by an experienced player.

Thanks for linking the game. I played terribly overall in that game, and dropping the pawn on move 21 was very amateurish. Here is my strategic post-mortem:

I think my planning was all over the place. Castling kingside was a poor choice. Advancing pawns on the queenside was the wrong plan when i had already pushed my f-pawn. Instead of moving my queen to a4 i should have found a better place for my d2 knight, and consequently sped up development of my rooks. Dark bishop would be better placed on g5 also to give my rooks useful squares. Is it a good analysis?

You've made a really terrible analysis and I'm going to show you why. You've made some mistakes from the very beginning. First of all I don't recommend to use a "push" variation, I mean 5. f4 because you've gathered enough space and you'll need to develop your pieces first. 8. Be3 was a mistake because you moved your bishop to unsafe square (it can be attacked by Nf6-g4) and also your bishop doesn't work from this square. Better was to place him on the b2-square. At your eights move I would rather made a plan: b3, Bb2, Nbd2, Re1, e4-e5. And if I'll control the center in a decent way to attack the opponent's king's side - I'm going to deliver an attack. 10. Qa4 is a blunder because this move doesn't make any sense. 13. Bc4 is also a bad move because it doesn't have an idea behind it and makes your light-squared bishop vulnerable for discovered attack or d6-d5 or even a6, b7-b5. 16. e5 was a blunder because you need to cure all your weaknesses before opening up the position. Yours biggest weakness was of course c3 pawn. Better idea was Rac1. 21. Rd3 is a huge blunder - you're just hanging your pawn at f4. After 23. Rd3 the game is all over because you are going to be down a minor piece with terrible position and under terrific attack.

You know the point of an analysis is to cure your mistakes and make a certain plan for the future. A good analysis (like mine or better) is a specific and deep analysis. Your general "understanding" like if I would castle to the queen's side I could win doesn't help at all. That's why every beginner needs a coach.

I did mention i placed my bishop on a bad square, and i also said that i should have done a different move than Qa4.

f4 in the beginning + castling queenside is standard in many Sicilian variations from what I`ve seen watching games. Just i forgot to consider queenside castle.

The center control plan starting with b3 is the type of 3-4 move strategic planning I definitely need to develop. Thanks for the tip.

The idea with Bc4 was to x-ray the king and to clear the file for a rook. Of course i neglected to realize that the c-file is blacks main avenue of attack in many sicilian variations (duh). The e5 push being a blunder needs more explanation. In my mind it seems like it creates a nice outpost, adds pressure to f7, and also vacates f3 for my d2 knight to jump to. The d2 knight getting to f3 not only supports e5 but also clears the file which my rook then controls.  Doesn`t that finish development while also creating chances if i had played it better and not dropped a pawn later? 

The f4 push is standard variation for GM's. I suppose you're not a GM so it's better for you to start the opening in more solid manner. Also you do can castle to the King's side and do have an attack on opponent's king if you'll gather control on the center.

Your bishop at c4 didn't create an x-ray because Black had two pawns and that x-ray if he even could exist - wouldn't help you in any possible way. e5 was a mistake because your bishop on c4 was really weak and pawn at c3 was even more weaker. Also by moving e4-e5 too rapidly you've created a perfect square for opponent's knight.

Anyway do you expect experienced players to make analysis for you for free? I'm not sure that I need to spend my time discussing such primitive positions.

By the way you're making a lot of one-move threats which can easily be spotted by your opponent. Also you're right you need to develop your positional understanding. And there are three ways you can do it:

1) By reading books which are recommended to you. The drawbacks of this method are: the recommended books can be awful garbage; you will face a lot of problems and "too complicated" things while reading some books and you'll probably never get answers for your questions.

2) By watching videos. I don't think that you can learn a lot using this method. Videos usually give you basic knowledge and then you'll need to find more information in the books or elsewhere.

3) And the best way is to find a coach.

Of course strong players can improve their skill by themselves. I can't say that you are strong enough at the moment.

You don`t need to spend your time discussing primitive positions at all. This is a chess forum, what you choose to spend your time on is up to you. The f4 push is something ive seen from watching John Bartholomew on youtube. He`s an IM. I`m nowhere near that level either but then again, neither are my opponents. I recently switched to e4 after foolishly thinking I could master the positional English opening, so I have very little experience with the Sicilian. I just tried to kind of copy what I had seen before.

My original question was about how players improved their strategy, or how they think about strategy, so I could get an idea of what resources and ideas are used by improving players. Then Deranged asked for examples of the types of position i might struggle with and that`s when the game was shared. 

You do can play any opening at any level. The problem is that you need to master it. Also your question is really foolish and childish. You need to ask specific question to get specific answer. I've already answered to your question in the previous message. By the way your question is too general. The same question will be: "How can I create an automatic trading system to earn billions in a year? Now I'm studying pre-algebra and I have 50 $ at my bank account. Help please!."

Get a coach or put a lot of effort in studying books and video courses. Euclid once said: "There is no royal road to geometry." Absolutely the same for chess.

The fundamental book for positional understanding is "My system" by Aron Nimzowitsch. It's a great book for you to begin with. After reading "My system" I would recommend you to read "My system at practice" by the same author. And then I suggest you reading books about opening theory and the books depends of course on which opening you play. And after accomplishing that I would recommend you to learn some common endgame theory - Dvoretsky's Engame Manual will help you with that. Seems like too much? So that's how positional understanding is made and it consist of strategy and endgames. 

1. I wasn`t asking about specifics because I need to develop a framework, only then can I engage in a discussion about specifics. That`s more or less what you`ve said earlier when you wrote "to create a strategy you need to learn basic chess concepts about center, flange attacks and so on and so forth."

You`re also contradicting yourself by saying "You do can play any opening at any level" but then also going on about why f4 can only be played by GM`s etc.. 

2. You`re saying I need a coach and obviously hinting at yourself as a coach, but you`re not very good at marketing yourself. First of all, you`re talking down on me, and while I`m admittedly a patzer, a good salesman makes the customer feel good about him or herself.  I don`t feel like you are coherent person at all, and I don`t want to spend my money on a coach who is going to insult me. In physical sports a lot can be said about a coach who eggs the players or fighters on by pointing out their poor performance, and even insulting them, but in chess... not so much. 

3. Using trading as an analogy is a blunder, I work with investments in a bank, and as a result I have my money invested in ETFs and global index funds. I know that in the long run the stock markets beat interest rates and obligations, but I also know that daytrading is gambling, chimpanzees can show better results by random selection than so called professional investors..