Thread: How do I gain motivation that I once had?

I've been trying to LD for a few years now, since July of 2019. It's been on and off for me, trying various different methods like WILD, MILD, WBTB, mixes of them, and more that I can't remember the name of.

A big problem for me was distractions during methods. These wouldn't stop. No matter how hard I tried to focus, my mind would eventually wander without me even noticing. This was a problem with methods that required you to focus on a certain body part and wait for hypnagogic sensations. The distractions would be terrible in the middle of the night and would cause me to fall asleep an hour or even two hours past when I wanted to fall asleep, which would then mean no lucid dream because I've mucked up the method.

After certain occasions of doing methods with no distractions consistently (which is rare) for periods of time and still not getting an LD, I just gave up. Although sometimes, I do want to start again.

Has anybody had a similar experience to me, and maybe some advice?

Finding and maintaining motivation can be tough, especially when you’re not seeing results. What kept me going in the early days was a love for my regular dreams. If you’re interested in those then there’s always something to be excited about on a night and to write about each morning. Lucidity then becomes the icing on the cake. You’ll have a massive motivation boost when you have one and then it’s just about riding that wave of enthusiasm and maintaining it as long as you can. I also find re-reading my old journal entries, visiting this forum regularly and watching/ reading dream related content as often as I can helps keep my motivation strong and consistently in my thoughts.

Putting too much effort and focus into your nightly methods is going to keep you awake. Whenever I tried to strictly follow “the steps” in technique guides I failed. I always found myself wide awake, trying too hard and getting frustrated whenever I believed I messed up one of the steps. This lead to long spells of insomnia and a generally negative mood that never brought lucidity. Techniques are really only a set of guide lines you can follow to point you in the right direction. You then need to adapt them to work in what ever way best suits you. Most nights when I succeed I simply wake up after 5-6 hours of sleep, spend 5 minutes recalling my dreams, then use the loo, do an RC and return to bed and think about my intention to become lucid until I fall asleep. It doesn’t always work but my chances of success are way higher then when I try too hard because I’m remaining calm, sleepy and stress-free. I’m not saying this simple routine will work for you but I think it’s best not to force yourself to do the techniques like a list of tasks to complete or it will just keep you awake.

Getting distracted is normal, when it happens you just need to accept it and bring your attention back to your intention. Your mind wandering can actually be a good thing and will likely lead to sleep which is better for getting lucid then staying awake! If you practice mnemonic techniques and regular RCs your mind will slowly start remembering to go back to your intention even if your mind does wander and you find yourself asleep without realising.

I have some suggestions. Don't bother with WILD or WBTB at first. Spend your time thinking about how you can tell if you are dreaming or not. Look in the fridge, close the door, look again, is there a portal to somewhere or the same jug of milk as the first time. Examine your hands, do you have the correct number of fingers? Pay attention to street signs, can you read them, do they change or disappear when you look away then back? That sort of stuff. Don't make this work, just do it alot hoping that sometime you will find out you are dreaming.
Try to remember one thing each morning from that nights dreaming. If you remember a dream write it down.
When going to sleep try to relax and learn to sleep easily. While doing this repeat in your mind "I am dreaming." Don't focus on this or make it a chore. If you forget to repeat it or just get bored so be it. Do not make any of this laborious, just relax and keep up these simple things.
Another important thing to note here is that cannabis is a serious handicap to lucid dreaming. No idea if you do or do not use it, but if you do it will take longer to givid or easy to remember. and they may not be as vivid or easy to remember.

Good luck. I guess the advice here on motivation is that WILD is not where to start and DILD can be achieved with little labor so you will not need as much motivation.