Imagine this: You’re a caveman (or cavewoman). Life is simple — hunt, gather, don’t die. One day, you get the wild idea to paint something on the cave wall. Maybe a buffalo, maybe a funky little stick figure. You’re feeling creative, inspired!

But suddenly, you freeze.

“What if the other cave people think my buffalo looks stupid?”
“What if they grunt and whisper behind my back?”
“What if the chief thinks I’m wasting time and tells me to go pick berries instead?”

So, you drop the rock, never paint again, and go back to smashing things with sticks.

Sounds ridiculous, right? Because it is.

Now, let’s rewind to what real survival-based fear looked like:

You’re out hunting with your tribe. You spot a wild boar. It’s dangerous, but you know the tribe needs food. You hesitate for a second, and someone shouts, “Coward! You let the boar get away!” Now, that judgment matters. If you’re seen as weak or useless, you could be cast out. And back then? Being cast out meant death. No fire, no food, no protection — just you and the hungry predators waiting to turn you into lunch.

Now fast forward to today. No one’s exiling you to the wilderness for posting a cringey TikTok or starting a business that flops. No one’s banning you from the tribe for singing off-key or wearing an outfit that isn’t “cool.” But your ancient brain still reacts as if the stakes are life or death.

So instead of hunting boars, we hesitate to post online. Instead of getting exiled from the tribe, we fear getting unfollowed. Instead of starving, we fear an awkward silence in a conversation.

See how ridiculous this is? We’ve upgraded everything in life — technology, medicine, travel — but our brains are still running on caveman software.

So next time you stop yourself from doing something you want to do because you’re afraid of being judged, just ask yourself:

“Am I actually about to die, or is this just my caveman brain being dramatic?”

Because the truth is: The only thing at risk is your ego — not your life.