IKE: The World Is What You Think It Is

IKE: The World Is What You Think It Is

You think you’re in control? You think you’re making conscious choices, steering the ship of your life with a firm hand on the rudder? Bullshit. Most of what you call “reality” is a story you’ve been telling yourself for so long you’ve forgotten you’re the author. You’re living in a movie of your own making, and the damn projector is running on autopilot.

We’re all fed a line from day one: the world is a fixed, objective thing. It’s out there, separate from us, a solid, unchanging stage on which we play our little parts. We’re taught to react, to respond, to adapt to what is. But what if that’s the biggest lie of all? What if the universe isn’t a static backdrop but a dynamic, responsive mirror reflecting your own consciousness back at you?

This isn’t some woo-woo, crystal-waving fantasy. This is the first principle of ancient Hawaiian Huna wisdom, and it’s backed by the cutting edge of modern science. It’s called IKE, and it means the world is what you think it is. Your thoughts don’t just describe reality; they create it.

The Problem

Most people are sleepwalking through life. You’re trapped in a feedback loop of your own creation, a prisoner of your own perceptions. You wake up, you expect the same old shit, and the universe graciously obliges. You think your boss is an asshole, so you show up to work with your guard up, and what do you get? Asshole behavior. You believe you’re unlucky in love, so you sabotage every potential relationship with suspicion and fear. You’re convinced you’ll never get ahead financially, so you miss the opportunities right in front of your face.

This cycle of expectations and perceptions can feel inescapable, but sometimes our assumptions are challenged in unexpected ways. For example, I once found myself in the company of people who were casually using cannabis—not the stereotypical image I had long held, but professionals who were thoughtful, disciplined, and engaged. This experience revealed how much of what I believed was shaped by conditioning rather than reality. It reminded me that our minds are capable of growth and that our understanding of the world is often limited by the narratives we've accepted. Recognizing this helps explain why we tend to be Backward-Looking People—focused on past experiences and fears—trapped by an outdated survival mechanism that shapes how we see ourselves and our surroundings.

This isn’t your fault, not entirely. We’re conditioned to be Backward-Looking People (BLPs). Our brains are wired for survival, which means focusing on threats, remembering past failures, and generally expecting the worst. It’s a primitive operating system that’s hopelessly outdated in the modern world. We’re running on software designed for the savanna, not the city.

“The world is what YOU think of it, so think of it DIFFERENTLY and your life will change.” - Paul Arden

We’re taught to see the world in terms of balance and equilibrium. We strive for stability, for a life free of chaos. But that’s a recipe for stagnation and death. As my mentor, the great Dr. Bob Melamede, taught me, life doesn’t exist in equilibrium. Life exists on the edge of chaos, in a state of being far-from-equilibrium. It’s a constant dance of creation and destruction, of order emerging from disorder. To be alive is to be in flux.

By clinging to your fixed beliefs, your rigid stories about how the world works, you’re fighting the fundamental nature of reality. You’re trying to nail Jell-O to a wall. You’re a BLP, desperately trying to hold onto a past that no longer exists, while the arrow of time relentlessly marches forward.

The Application

So how do you apply this in your own life? How do you go from being a sleepwalking BLP to a conscious, reality-bending FLP? It starts with taking radical responsibility for your own perceptions.

1. Audit Your Beliefs: What are the stories you’re telling yourself about your life? About your health, your relationships, your finances? Get a notebook and write them all down. Don’t filter, don’t judge, just get them out of your head and onto the page. You might be surprised at the bullshit you’ve been carrying around.
2. Challenge the Narrative: For every negative belief, put it on trial. Play the prosecutor. Is this really true? Is it always true, in every single situation? Can you find even one piece of evidence to the contrary? Look for the exceptions, the moments when the story wasn’t true. This will start to loosen its grip on you.
3. Choose a New Story: If the world is what you think it is, then what do you want it to be? This is where you get to be the screenwriter of your own life. Craft a new narrative, a new set of beliefs that actually serve you. Write it down in the present tense, as if it’s already true. “I am a disciplined and focused entrepreneur.” “I am a loving and supportive partner.” “I am a money magnet, and wealth flows to me easily and effortlessly.” It might feel like you’re lying to yourself at first. Good. That means you’re stretching your reality.
4. Act As If: This is the most important step. You can’t just think your way to a new reality; you have to embody it. Start acting as if your new story is true. How would the healthy, wealthy, loved version of you walk? How would they talk? What decisions would they make? What would they eat for breakfast? Do that. Now. Your actions are the signals you send to the universe that you’re serious about this new reality.
5. Reinforce the New Reality: Your old programming will try to creep back in. It will whisper doubts in your ear and tempt you with the comfort of the familiar. Your job is to starve the old reality and feed the new one. Surround yourself with people who support your new story. Read books and watch movies that reinforce it. Celebrate every small win, every piece of evidence that your new reality is taking hold. This is how you build momentum. This is how you make the new story your default setting.

This isn’t a one-and-done deal. It’s a practice. It’s a daily, moment-to-moment choice to be the author of your own reality, not just a character in it. It’s about consciously directing your attention, your energy, your mana, towards the future you want to create.

The Takeaway

Your reality is not fixed. It’s a fluid, dynamic, and deeply personal creation. The world you experience is a direct reflection of the thoughts you think, the beliefs you hold, and the stories you tell yourself. This is the wisdom of IKE, the first principle of Huna.

You can continue to be a victim of your own programming, a BLP stuck in a loop of self-fulfilling prophecies. Or you can wake up, take the damn wheel, and start steering. You can become an FLP, a conscious creator, a self-organizing system on the edge of chaos.

The choice is yours. The power has been within you all along.