For most of us dreams progress much like stories, and as we all know, all stories have certain things in common. They have a beginning, middle and end. But more than that, they have conflict.

Looking through my dream journal and those of others, nearly every dream gives the impression of the dreamer having to do something - get to work on time, fight off zombies, comfort a friend. These are all conflicts, struggles.

Conflicts can be:

  • You vs. Self
  • You vs. Character
  • You vs. Society
  • You vs. Nature
  • You vs. Supernatural
  • You vs. Machine/Technology


...and much more.

So quite simply, when you are experiencing or seeing any form of conflict, do a reality check. While not an induction method in itself, this is an alteration to your typical 'reality check when walking through a door', because from my experience, not all dreams have doors. All of mine have some sort of conflict or struggle.

For simplicity's sake, I suppose I'll call this the Conflict-Induced Reality Check method (CIRC).

*Just to clarify. A conflict doesn't neccessarily mean you opposing someone. Reality check whenever you are having to exert your will to correct something - if you need to run for the bus, that would be You vs. Nature (time) or Society.

When action must be taken to prevent or fix something, reality check!