New to Tuning: Best Practices for Maximizing Performance?

I'm relatively new to the world of tuning and recently got my hands on VCM Suite by HP Tuners. I've been doing a lot of reading and research, but I wanted to reach out to the community here for some real-world advice.

I'm curious to know: What are your best practices for maximizing performance when tuning with VCM Suite? Whether it's optimizing fuel and spark tables, tweaking airflow parameters, or fine-tuning torque management, I'm eager to learn from your experiences.
Thanks in advance for your help!

Best to be asked for the particular vehicle in the specific forum section. They all have different OEM strategies and different things available.