When playing a game of chess it is always important to not get rushed and make a simple mistake. Too often a chess player will see a good or decent move and jump quickly to make that move. What is often overlooked is making the best move possible. Getting in a hurry or getting overly confident in your skills leads to making this simple mistake. Chess is a game that requires a well thought out plan and strategy if you want to win on a consistent basis.
People in general have a tendency to look for the easiest path to follow and it is no different in playing chess. While there may be an option to skewer your opponent's pieces, you may have overlooked the possible checkmate in two more moves that you could have made. This tendency to leap towards the first move that appears to you is a mistake that many inexperienced chess players will make.
There are multiple books, software, and web sites that offer tactical skills improvement exercises. These are very good for you to be able to look for the best move instead of looking for the easiest move. When you look at one of these tactical exercises you will be able to say to yourself "what would I have done in that situations?" Then you will be able to see what the best move is. Did your instinct move match the best move offered as the solution in the exercise? If not you may not be taking the time to look for the best possible move. These tactical exercises may seem somewhat mundane, but if you really want to improve then you need to spend time focusing on them so that you can consistently look for the best move each and every move.