1. In the early morning hours, or during an awakening in the latter part of your sleep period, clearly and confidently affirm your intion to remember and recognize the dream state.
2. Imagine as vividly as possible that you are in dream situations which would typically cause you to realize that you are dreaming. Incorporate several of your most frequently occuring or favourite dreamsigns in your visualizations.
3.In addition to mentally practicing recognizing dreamsigns, resolve to carry out some particular chosen action in the dream. A good choice would be an action that is itself a dreamsign. For example, see yourself flying in your dream and recognizing that you are dreamin g. While doing this be sure to firmly resolve to recognize the next time you are dreaming.
The reason for setting an intention to do a particular action in the dream is that dreamers sometimes remember to do the action without first having become lucid.
Then upon reflection, they remember : "This is what I wanted to do in my dream. Therefore, I must be dreaming !" The intended action should be a dreamsign, because you're more likely to become lucid if you find yourself doung your dream action.
Reference: Exploring the World of Lucid Dreaming: Stephen LaBerge, ph.D. & Howard Rheingold