Hey, everybody. I have a very odd situation going on here, and I’d like to have it addressed. Every time I’ve woken up recently and recalled my dreams, I’ve realized that all of my RC’s haven’t been working. What I mean by that is this: once, I saw my reflection in a mirror and I looked completely and utterly normal. Another time, I checked the time on my cell phone and it wasn’t distorted; in fact, I remember that the time was 7:15. Another time, I saw my hands in the dream and they didn’t look different at all. Whenever I have become lucid in the past [which was about three times], it was always spontaneous. What can I do for RC’s now?
I think what you’ve got to do is double check that all these things are normal. You should look back at the mirror a second time and see if your image has changed, or if the time on the clock is different.
I think you should choose different RC’s, preferebly the nose check RC.
Thats usually works 95% of the time… so yeah.
Nose check RC is probably one of the best RC’s out there. It works the best for me, in any case, although I pretty much only do RC’s during False Awakenings.
Thing is, you only need to check it once. I do this:
I always say: “If I can breathe through my nose even when I pinch it shut, I know that I’m dreaming.” And then I do the actual RC. That way, it’s pretty much foolproof.
This is a common issue.
This is what you must do:
Next time you do a reality check, convince yourself that you are dreaming.You must believe that you are in a DREAM.Even if you know that you are awake.
Then it will become a habit, and RCs will start working again.
I count my fingers, worked every time. Usually 6-7 on one hand in dreams. Before i tried sticking a finger through my hand but that didnt work so i changed to counting fingers 
You have to expect the RC to work, otherwise your SC will think “im gonna look at my hands and they will look normal” in your dreams. My finger through hand probably failed because i didnt expect it to work.
Thanks for the help, everybody. I’ll try all of these techniques out as soon as I’m able. I hope it works. [:
Quick answer: dreams are known for their unstability, so checking twice or thrice your clock/cell phone/writing on paper is always reccomended.
For the nose/hand RC, you have to not let it become an empty routine, like “Oh, i saw my dreamsign, so i’ll put my finger on the palm of the other hand while thinking of my usual stuff”. Every time you do a RC, you must mean it. You must believe it will fail in a dream, imagine it failing, feel the exitement of the discovery (no really), and if you have some spare time, daydream a little about what you’ll do after. Emotions are the key for a proper RC, so doing it with passion/fun will go a long way 
Great advice, Tosxychor. I need to be doing more of almost everything you mention in my RCs
Svenshinhan, you’ve got me wanting to do the nose check again… I hear many people rave about this RC, but wonder how it must look if I were to start holding my nose all day!
A good thing to do after a RC is staying aware of your senses/surroundings/thoughts for as long as possible, while continuing to do what you were doing before. Awareness becomes a key later on to keep your LD s stable and to help induce more, plus if you’re aware while you see a dreamsign, you don’t really have to RC: you can realize you’re dreaming without RC, too (but they can still help clearing the last doubt), plus RC are meant to bring awareness, so if you have it already, you can just prolong your consciousness for a little more (using the dreamsign as a reminder).