So I used to know this kid when I was going to college who had big dreams and empty pockets. You and I both know that doesn’t necessarily mean he won’t make it big, but it does make it a little more difficult. He was always talking about how he owned his own small business – he wrote essays for people – and that someday, all the money he got from that unregistered small business was going to help him make it big.

I don’t know where that kid is, but I don’t see him in the news. My guess?

He was all talk and no game.

The word “entrepreneur” seems to be a word that most people confuse with “chill dude” or “guy who makes a bunch of cash.” They never really do anything but stare at the word all day and wonder what’s it like to be someone who owns their own company. Then when these types occasionally get an opportunity to actually BE an entrepreneur, they sit.

And sit.

Oh wait, they’re still sitting.

Decisions become hard, and they aren’t sure where to take their companies. They might even have good ideas. They might even be viable ideas that will make them lots of cash. But those ideas are in the wrong hands, because the people who EARN the title “entrepreneur” don’t sit around fiddling their thumbs while some other Jack or Peter thinks up their ideas and steals them away while they’re trying to figure out where to put the stapler on their desks.

Look, I’m not saying you shouldn’t really think through being an entrepreneur, and that you shouldn’t make educated decisions about your company. You obviously want to compare choices and make sure you’re choosing the best one for you and the people who work for you. Being wise is one thing, but sitting around and hoping a decision will find you in all of the data you’re collecting and all of the experts you’re consulting is absolutely nonsense.

These people call themselves entrepreneurs, but aren’t really. The people who earn this title are those who DO something. They ACT. Do they make bad decisions sometimes? Yeah. Do they piss away money? Yeah. Do they pass up good opportunities? Yeah.

But you know what ELSE they do?

SOMETHING.

They might not have gotten a piece of one opportunity, but they’ll get a piece of the next. They might pass up a good employee, but they’ll get another one. And they’ll fight for what they know is going to make their companies succeed. They’ll murder you in their sleep if they have to (metaphorically, of course), and they’ll work 90-hour weeks and go to eight trade shows all over the US if it means they… Do. Something.

Entrepreneurs make decisions based off of some knowledge and some passion. They make decisions that they feel, in their heart of hearts, will get the job done. They follow their instincts and many of their decisions com from instinct, not numbers and letters and “you really shouldn’t be doing this, John. You’re going to fail,” commentary. Entrepreneurs freaking do something, and they do it big. They aren’t shy. They just get their game on.

So if you’re sitting at home reading this, eating your Cheerios for breakfast because your kid finished the last of your Pops, and you’ve had some crazy business idea in your head for years or months or days, stop it. Get it out and get it, and follow what you know is right. You think Google would have been anywhere without taking some risks? How about Apple (they almost lost everything before it came out with the iPod)? What about the guys behind SquareEnix, who released “Final Fantasy” because they thought it would be their last game to ever hit the market, and now there’s 13 of the suckers?

Just get it done and be the entrepreneur you are supposed to be by being brave, taking chances and JUST DOING SOMETHING. You’ll see something magical happen when you do – I promise.