I can't make anything happen during my LDs....advice?

I know this is a really common topic but with every lucid dream I've ever had I've been unable to really control anything. Last night I had a dream and took my time to observe a little before I started trying to do things. I couldn't summon any dream characters, which I know is tres difficult, and I even said ok I'll try flying and ran up a car that appeared and jumped off :cackle: but just landed on the ground.

I kept telling myself I can do anything and I tried lots of different tactics to do things or make things appear but nothing worked and before long I woke up. I have extremely realistic dreams and can feel things (for example I could feel it when I hit the ground) and I think that might be one reason it's even harder to really believe I can do anything.

Anyone got some advice they can give? I'd really appreciate it.

Think you!😊

Maybe because of all of those times you have failed at those attempts to do something, it has created a mental block in your mind so deep down you believe you can't do it. I had a similar problem in many of my early Lucid Dreams. I would become lucid and the first thing I wanted to do was fly, but I could never get it. Then I decided that I wasn't going to fail anymore. So in the next lucid dream I closed my dream eyes, and jumped into the air and tried actually feeling myself going higher and higher and flying. I genuinely believed it would work. I opened my eyes and saw that I was high up in the air, I was flying!
So my point here is, you need to destroy that mental block, and if that really isn't the problem then try what I did to fly. Believe in yourself. :)

Remember Yoda: "Do, or do not, there is no 'try'"

Summoning DCs is not hard, nothing is hard, erase this notion from your mind.

There are threads on summoning, search and read them. My favorite way to summon DCs: remember that he/she's standing behind you, reach your hand behind your back, call for him/her to take your hand, and bring them around in front of you.

Practicing imagination while waking may help as well.

For dream control you need to *know* that it works.

I think the emphasis on dream control is frequently overdone: dreams can be enjoyed lucidly without needing to completely rewrite them, simply being fully lucid while walking around/continuing the dream is amazingly awesome.

Try starting small. You can develop kill in steps and you also can get your mind used to the idea of supernatural things happening.

Start with a goal that is not super natural, but will prove you influenced the dream. Perhaps simply going to a location or finding a predetermined object. Then try small super natural things such as jumping over a car.

After you get ok at those minor things you can ramp it up.

Thank you all for the awesome answers. I really appreciate it. I'm definitely going to try and have more faith in myself...my biggest problem is not believing so I'll just have to keep at it until I have a breakthrough.

Think about all those non-lucids: e.g., walking down a dark street, thinking "Oh dear, I hope there are no thieves here!" and voila, a thief jumps out from the shadows. Same general idea in lucids: *know* what you want is there, think about it, expect to see it, and just search around a bit for it. Try: small things are in your pocket, larger things are behind you. Medium sized things can be "hanging from your utility belt", and so on.

Start with something that you think would be very easy. Use that as a base for every power.

To control stuff you basicaly need to believe that the things you try to do are possible, get rid of any doubt and don't overthink it.
The tips provided by FryingMan are a very good method of obtaining objects.
I might say that it's crucial not to overthink it. I once wanted to conjure up a fireball from my hand (for world burning purposes) and I started thinking "how would that work?" I started ponduring could the laws of physics allow such an action and if so, what processes would be involved in such an action.
My tip is just to remember that this is a dream and the laws of the waking universe don't work there. You are the one creating the laws. And start off with something on a smaller scale and then gradually increase the scale of your shenanigans :)

Ahh this is some good advice from everyone, need to remember next time i'm lucid :)

Yeah as others have said, just have to believe (sounds cliche) and not doubt yourself. Just like hyper-believing in things more than usual has worked for me in the past, to the point where you have to believe so much that you feel lots of adrenaline and extended awareness. I don't know though, I'd like to start summoning things sometime too haha. Was flying super weird the other time I was lucid recently. My body was parallel to the ground, yet I was "flying" upward really fast. I still have issues with flying off and on even though I "believe" that it works, so maybe its just a personal thing with me? lol. But good advice regardless!

I actually think what you need to do is take time out. Instead of trying to control your next lucid dream, talk to the dream itself. Ask it why you haven't been controlling it (which, as other people have stated, is most definitely a metal block, but it never hurts to have friendly conversations with your subconscious), and ask it what you should do to beat the mental block. Ask it to help you beat your mental block. And remember not to ask these to dream characters--shout your questions up to the skies and wait for answers.

Same here, my LD's 90% of the time start in my house somewhere, and then I go outside. But the problem is, my dreams are so realistic that they seem to obey physical laws. Because of this I cant really do anything like change shape or summon anything. The only difference I notice is that I can run a little faster and jump a bit higher. Also I always think in my dreams that I should be able to remember what goes on, sometimes I really am in there for quite a while, but when I wake up it all goes so fast. Any advice?

One update about dream control for me, is that last night was lucid and fighting something in a room. It was in front of a wall, and I forget what it was, but I started doing dragonball z attacks at it. Like the kamehameha and big bang attack were much more realistic and destructive than before, even heard the energy charging sounds! And the explosions were unbelievably bright. I ended up defeating whatever it was, as it was reduced to some chewing gum blob, but here's the thing. The wall was still there after all this. I turned around and saw one of my cousins, and remarked "wow I'm lucid yet this wall is still standing after that!". Anyway, yeah, dreams go figure :whyme: my control was better but my attacks were ineffective against the dream wall.

It's great your control improved, no matter the margin. This will boost your confidence in your dream control abilities which will in turn increase your dream control gradually. many other posters said believing and knowing play a major part in control. They are correct. Something i find, and have read about, that also helps is expecting. it might sound similar to both believing and knowing, and might even have elements of each. But what i am sure of is that IT WORKS. It has been my source of manipulation in many lucids. With this technique i have mastered TK, alchemy and flying(something i struggled with for months).

You said you tried telling yourself you could do it. That should work but it depends on how you do it. I also used verbal 'commands' to help influence the dream. I would say stuff like "Increase control to level five" at that level my TK was insane. I also repeated this a few times to cement it. Sometimes you don't have to even say commands but just use self suggestions. I used this to dilute conflicts and turn around nightmares. Once I was being chased by a wolf and when i became lucid i said to myself "But that's not a wolf, its a rabbit". Lo and behold when i turned to face the wolf it was instead a rabbit. I also EXPECTED it to be a rabbit.

There are a lot of factors that go into dream control and several techniques that can be spun from them. There is no limit to how you can achieve a specific task. Even if a certain technique is popular and GUARANTEED TO WORK it just might not. I personally experienced this when i was dealing with my flying. there were all sorts of techniques i tried like running and taking off, swimming, superman, imagine wings, pretend I'm lighter etc. I tried them all and none worked. You know how i managed to finally fly? I fell. I was chasing someone and fell. But instead of landing on my face i found i was hovering above the ground. I know it sounds like some fantasy BS but that's what happened. From then on whenever i wanted to fly i just lean to fall and take off, climbing into the sky, EXPECTING it would. When i became comfortable enough i didn't even need to expect anymore.

Like the others said start small. My first manipulation was changing the color of my room door. My first summoning was a painting on the wall. Just don't give up and find your own ways to manipulate your world because it is YOUR world and you automatically have influence on it, just believe and expect and try all sorts of crazy ideas. Happy dreaming :)

Didn't read everything, so sorry if it's a repeat.
What I like to do is act out an "Ah! Now I remember that I put a pumpkin into that chest on the porch!"
It works a bit better than just imagining, or trying to "will" something to be somewhere. Give it a little narrative.

Try something simple and basic.

In your next lucid reach your pocket and bring out your wallet, you will find that you will easily do it. Congratulation, you just summoned your wallet... like that, you can spawn anything you want (try next to pull out a stack of $100 bills, which I assume it is not a regular item in your pockets, you see it will work also. Next, open a door and pretend that (whoever you want) is in that room. You will find that person easily :) Keep practicing and you will see how easy it is.