Quote Originally Posted by MadMonkey View Post
I have been considering lately what is the proper mindset to maintain for long run success in lucid dreaming. After my long break I realize that the techniques I used to use may have worked to get me lucids but will not facilitate further growth. I have a good grasp on reality checks but I need to make it so I actually do them during dreams. I find that I am most likely to do RCs during the day when I am in quite moments alone at home while most of my dreams have me running around in borderline stressful situations. It is a great idea to always assume you are dreaming instead of waiting for the dream signs. When you are dreaming you will already know! All you have do do is confirm it then.
Long-term success in LDing requires I believe the practitioner to become a lucid person, 24x7.

I, too, tend to have a much more quiet waking life than dreaming life, and find myself highly mindful during the quiet times but it's so simple to slip into conditioned responses in more stressful, "noisy" (physically, emotionally) situations. My dreams are full of people, situations, interactions, conversations, much more urgent most of the time, while my waking life is mostly fairly quiet in comparison. I think we need to get the most out of every "stimulus/response" we find ourselves in. This requires careful attention. I also like to get myself out into the hustle and bustle of crowded city life from time to time to "shake things up."

A recent focus of mine is to avoid routine like the plague. Do anything you can to not slip into autopilot: do things differently, even little things: the paths you walk, use of your dominant hand vs. non-dominant.

I also like to pay attention to the quality of experience: pay attention to quiet/static vs. hectic/stressful/dynamic, I think this can serve as a sort of "all day RC" approach, in addition to helping one stay vigilant.

More important than the RC itself is recognizing the times to do them. I find myself fairly frequently realizing moments later that I glossed over something a moment before and do a RC at that time. I have these thoughts in dreams sometimes and do get lucid from them, but it's better I think to catch the moment as it occurs than to rely on "background/delayed reflection".