MILD has given me the majority of my lucid dreams. I think its a great technique.

LaBerge recommends that before you start MILD you first develop dream recall to the point of recalling at least one dream per night.

The second step is to learn to analyze your dreams for signs that you are dreaming (dreamsigns).

the actual practice is then to recall and visualize a vivid dream, review the dreamsign and then tell yourself that the next time you are dreaming YOU WILL RECOGNIZE that you ARE DREAMING.

You need to repeat this process as you fall asleep. LaBerge says if you find yourself thinking of something else, stop and repeat the process. If you try too hard you might not get back to sleep, but you need to keep your mind focussed on recognizing dreamsigns.

You may also need to practice prospective memory. Let's say after you've recalled some dreams you notice there are always dogs in them. Every time you see a dog do a reality check. So that you get using to checking if you are dreaming when your dream sign appears.