I also have had lucids all my life, (Except during my heavy pot-using days where I lost recall of dreams) so I cannot really be sure, but ever since I have started telling myself I am dreaming, and then taking a look at my surroundings, my lucid abilities seem to be returning. the thing is that we seem to believe everything in our dreams, so why would we believe for a second that we would lie to ourself? after all, we tend to believe almost anything right? truthfully, I believe that different things work for different people, and even someone who has millions of lucids, their techniques may not work for certain people.So I say keep looking, and when you find what works... stick with it, and whatever doesn't then abandon it.