It is imperative that you be mindful of your quest interface which is activated with the default key being '~',
The quest interface will allow you to learn the essentials aspects of this type of Minecraft.
You will also receive great rewards for completing quests. 

If you are playing on a server, it is certainly possible that global quests will open up that can only be completed by one person and only be completed once. That is at the discretion of the Server Administrator though. But the fact still remains, questing is key.