I just want to add, that it's vital to know that the thought of the dream sign is more important than there awareness of it. For example, if my dream sign is seeing my mom, but in the dream she's angry, I'm more likely to think "why is she angry" than "there's my mom". Since I didn't train to associate anger with my reality check, I won't RC until I think I'm seeing my mom. So, it's very important to identify what you're thinking when you're aware of your dream signs in your dreams so you can make the adjustment.

I like the idea or using emotions or thoughts as dream signs because I feel I'm more likely to associate with them as such rather than with something else.

I often dream about waking up, but I want to incorporate some emotional dream signs as well for more coverage.

I think I'll keep an eye on what emotions I'm experiencing during my dreams, and use that information to guess which emotion I'm going to experience in my next dream.