I'll give my example here. I haven't just picked my cues in order to become lucid. I dream a lot about toilets so I decided that every time I encounter one, a reality check should be performed. My dreams helped me pick my cues. The more you record, observe and study your dreams, the more likely it is that you will become familiar with them and thus increase your chances of entering the phase via dream consciousness.
In waking life, every time I see a toilet, I ask myself if I'm dreaming. But I just don't ask the question for the sake of appearances. I try to answer the question with confirmations by using understanding I have acquired from my dreaming. In wakefulness, I never assume that I must be awake because the world feels so solid and real. This, I think, is a mistake that a lot of people make. Dreams can be just as real. The very experience of reality is a very elaborate and persistent dream. As long as we are conscious, we are always dreaming. The difference is that, right now, as you sit at your computer and read this you are "dreaming" true. This dreaming that you do in wakefulness is largely governed by sensory input from the physical world. The dreaming you do at night (or whenever you sleep), on the other hand, is unconstrained by physical sensations. As Stephen LaBerge put it, in your sleep you dream free.
So how do I answer the question "Am I dreaming?" Well, for starters, this question is asked every time I use the toilet. I always remember to say to myself: "Am I dreaming?" - then I think about what happened five minutes ago, an hour ago... etc. - Do I remember waking up in the morning and having breakfast? If I don't, I must be dreaming. If I do, there is a good chance that I'm awake but I don't stop questioning reality there. I look at the sink and notice the red and blue tap. I look away and think that I can swap their colours. I do this repeatedly. I look away and loo back. If the colours swap, I am definitely dreaming. If they don't, there is a good chance that I'm awake but I still don't stop questioning reality there. Sometimes I try to defy gravity when I'm done using the toilet. If I can't fly, I still don't stop questioning reality...
The one reality check that I never fail to perform is the hyper-concentration method mentioned in SOBT. I look at my index finger for more than ten seconds at close range. If it distorts or goes askew, then I am dreaming. This check is one of the most reliable.
In fact, after a series of reality checks such as the ones I've described, I very much doubt that the dream world will be able to fool you.
The pinched nose method is fairly reliable too as long as it is performed with conviction:
http://research.obe4u.com/pinched-nose- ... -of-phase/THE PHASE = waking consciousness during sleep hybridisation at 40Hz of brainwave activity conducive to lucid dreaming and autoscopy.
