A plan helps a lot. Work out in your mind what your flight path is going to be and what maneuvers you're going to do. Also decide ahead of time what you are going to do if the wind throws you off course. Pick a day to fly when the wind is light so you know you'll have a predictable plane.

The second thing that really helps is getting a more experienced pilot to fly it for you the first time. That way you know you're starting with a properly trimmed plane and you can see it fly right before you get on the sticks.