There is an important underlying factor that makes all Lucid Dreaming techniques work. Whatever you do to induce a Lucid Dream confirms to your mind that you are serious about having one. The effectiveness of any technique comes down to this: how strongly are you confirming your intent to have a Lucid Dream with it?

Perhaps the simplest technique is to tell yourself as you are going to sleep, “I will wake up in my dreams tonight.” And yet, depending on the emotion you put behind this statement, your subconscious might not take you all that seriously… Other techniques that require more effort have greater success rate because they send the message far more strongly and/or consistently.

What this means is; it is the *intent*, rather than the techniques themselves, that will trigger a Lucid Dream. Of course, this doesn’t mean you can abandon these practices and hope for the best, on the contrary, it simply means you are proving your intent by keeping them up. The best results will thus be achieved if you use a combination of practices on a regular basis, showing your unwavering intent.

Initial Lucid Dream experiences can happen when you’re not expecting them, often because your mind has got the message already and has been busy in the background tweaking the conditions that will allow for lucidity. To put it another way, there may be a few psychological factors that need to be rearranged by the mind through normal dreams first, and this process is put in motion by your intent.

There are a few other simple ways to amplify the strength of your ‘intent signal’. The first is through associating significance. Think of the most important thing in your life, then think about Lucid Dreaming at the same time, emphasizing the sheer importance of both in your life. Next, think about something you desire more than anything else, and emphasize you yearn for Lucid Dreaming with equal strength.

Both of these will put more emotion into your intent, and emotion is energy in motion! The more emotion you are able to muster up, the greater you create a focussed mental energy state of pure intent, causing the desired result to manifest itself. A mindset of ‘I will achieve my desire no matter what’ is actively in motion.

One more optional way to amplify your message it to quiet your ‘internal dialogue’ while practicing any technique or the exercise above. Without other thoughts competing for attention, your mind can focus far more directly on your request. This is also the basis for hypnosis, where a specific thought or belief is given total attention, allowing it to take root without any competing thoughts.

One great thing about intent is that once you put it in motion it is self-reinforcing. Through intent you keep up with your practices, and practicing confirms your intent! The only tricky part is starting, and that’s where *you* putting in as much emotional yearning and significance will really help get things going.

Now we have the Second Key to Lucid Dreaming: *INTENT*.