Beached: The paralyzed decision-maker

I've posted recently about practical ways to handle career indecision because I see a lot of blog posts, news articles, and books encouraging people to make big changes, but not much about how to deal with the paralysis we sometimes encounter in making such a big decision. A recent encounter on a beach reminded me of how I've felt in those situations.

This is a baby seal I saw yesterday, just put up on the rocks to rest by the mother while she fished.

I like the beached seal analogy because it includes a satisfactory conclusion, the tide comes back in and you're on the move again. Likewise, in my own career decision-making, I experienced periods of paralysis due to:

• fear of the unknown,
• financial pressure,
  
• information overload, and/or
  
• perceived, insurmountable barriers.

But like the tides, the paralysis recedes, either by my own initiative or being forced by finances or other unavoidable forces. I "got off the dime" and moved forward. How do you deal with decision-making paralysis?