Excellent Dream Recall; No Lucid Dreams!

[Liolar]

After a long break, I've managed to keep my dream journal going for three (almost four) straight months, and since starting my dream recall has been pretty much excellent. Over the past two years, I've had regular bouts of dream journal-keeping, and along with it excellent recall, for periods of several months at a time, which is good, but there was one drawback: I never had lucid dreams. I came close to scratching the surface, perhaps a level 0 lucid dream, but I never truly became aware or achieved any real control. I am aware that, despite my dream journal keeping, I usually failed to make compilations of dream signs, but I would also say that my dream signs shift very regularly, and my dreams rarely take place in the same location on a nightly basis. Therefore, I'm never completely sure what to consider a dream sign, as it varies so often, so I never did, and as a result, I never really kept up reality checks. It really depended on what I was regularly doing/watching/playing, and sometimes it would throw a curveball and be something completely unrelated. (I have a few of those from the past that I could add to my dream journal if you're interested!) I've been doing WBTB for a couple of weeks, but failed to realise that WBTB was only an aid and not a technique in and of itself, so I'm considering attempting a two-pronged WBTB/MILD technique, starting with not keeping an alarm in order to assess any natural wake-up times (if I have any). I've decided to start using a mantra, but am unsure of what to do about reality checks, such as when I should do one. I don't want to be doing them constantly, as I think it would get a little grating, but I also don't want to forget. It's mostly this forgetfulness that I would attribute to my failure, but also a few other things, like insomnia causing an eventual lack of interest or enthusiasm, or otherwise keeping myself awake with mantras and intentness on awareness; all of this eventually combines to create a sort of ingrained self-doubt whenever I go to sleep, a doubt that I will ever achieve lucidity, which I think in turn, causes me to not become lucid, as I give myself the idea that it is not possible for me. Does anyone have any advice in general, on how to handle the preparations needed for a WILD/MILD technique, or even if this is a good idea in the first place? What about ideas for RCs, as I know my dreams to be quite varied and disjointed in nature? How do I combat my years of self-doubt? I don't mean to bombard everyone with questions, but like I say, I've been waiting two years for a successful lucid dream. XD Thanks! Liolar