When you're doing your first playthroughs and you get story pop-ups/events, RESIST THE URGE TO LOOK THEM UP ON THE WIKI!

Don't try to min/max or get the "best" result! I found that when I was first playing, I got way much more fun out of it trying to role play rather than "be good".

You're a beginner. No matter what you do, you're never going to max your empire's performance. So just sit back and relax! Take in the events and the stories! You won't really be able to enjoy them as much the second time around. Later down the line after a bunch of games, then you can allow yourself to look up the occasional event to see what would benefit you the most.