Hello everybody!

I have been trying for a good while now to figure out how to set my intention to remember things when I go to sleep. For example, I want to remember that I'm dreaming, or I want to remember to wake up after a dream and not move, or sometimes I just want to remember to wake up for my WBTB.

Unfortunately, I'm having trouble getting the message to my subconscious; it seems no matter what I do, once I lose consciousness I just forget! I have read Silverbullet's and Mastermind's posts about intention-setting, but so far I have had no success. Every time I try to feel that I am a master lucid dreamer as suggested, I am eventually distracted by something and I forget or fall asleep like normal.

I have also tried techniques like mantras and SSILD to be more aware as I fall asleep, but then one of two things happens: either I am too awake while doing this and get tired of doing it and fall asleep (no results the next morning / awakening) or I am too tired and lose focus very quickly (again no results.)

Am I approaching all this the wrong way? I feel like I have all the information, but I'm just not doing something right. It seems that my efforts when I'm awake have no effect once I lose consciousness.

Any suggestions or ideas will be greatly appreciated

P.S.
If it matters, I have never had a full lucid dream. The closest I have gotten was randomly noticing my awakening one time and rubbing my hands for a few seconds as my mind shifted back to the real world.