When is good good enough? Toss a coin

Another thought provoked by Worthwhile mag - this time by their Thought for the Day which gives eight rules to live by, seven essentially involving research, commitment and patience - the eighth being a telling

Then, finally, break free from the seductive pull of book learning and research and the million other preparatory steps that could delay for the entire span of a life and immerse yourself in the doing.

And therein, lies the problem.

I'm currently spending a lot of time thinking and researching about my career. I'll be quite honest, at the moment I'm still thinking about my current job and trying to learn all I can about it and my attitude and thoughts towards it. From there I'm planning on thinking about what I want to do and after that start applying (there is some action, I applied for a job that was too good to miss the other day).

However, when does research and careful planning become mere procrastination? Assuming you can never have total knowledge of the job market or (assuming you are continually developing) your skills when do you decide it's time to make the leap and, that you are confident enough to start dipping your toe into the water with a view to taking the plunge - if you forgive the extended metaphor?

This, again, is something I'd thought long and hard about. And, realising there is no hard and fast rule, developed the very simple approach of tossing a coin to make the decision.

The secret is not to abide by the coin's result, but to take careful note of how you feel about the result.

Try it. Boil a major decision you are undecided about down to a simple yes/no or heads/tails answer. Flip that coin and then base your actual decision on whether your heart lifts or sinks when you see the result.

I've gone with this on a lot of major choices I was internally debating, and have never regretted a choice yet.