Hello, Welcome to Dreamviews. I'm pretty new to Lucid Dreaming too. The only advice I can really give is to Use your own technique of preference and keep a dream journal. You always have to be diligent though, and consistent with whatever technique you use.
As for the telling yourself to remember your dreams it has something to do with getting your subconscious mind to work for you. So your basically telling yourself to remember your dreams.