By Cari Skrdla

The Law of Gestation: Trusting the Process of Becoming

The Law of Gestation teaches that everything has a development period—a time when growth is happening beneath the surface, even if you can’t yet see the results. A perfect example is pregnancy. For nine months, a baby grows in the womb. The process can’t be rushed. Likewise, every idea, goal, transition, or transformation in your life has its own gestation period.

I remember being pregnant—how exciting those early weeks were, filled with anticipation and joy unlike anything I’d ever experienced. But as my due date approached, I began to truly understand the importance of patience. There’s a kind of sacred waiting involved. And while that waiting can be uncomfortable or uncertain, it’s necessary. The same is true when starting a new career, building a relationship, or working toward a health goal. Rushing the process can damage the outcome and rob you of the personal growth that only comes through staying the course—believing in your commitment even when you can't yet see the result.

One of my favorite scriptures on this is Galatians 6:9:
“And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.”

Understanding this universal law can help us make peace with the quiet, invisible part of change—the time when the seed is still beneath the soil. Just like our earliest development happened unseen in the womb, much of our transformation begins in places no one else can see.

Honoring the Process

In Hidden Treasures, Leslie Householder writes, “Our ideas will never come faster than the time they take to mature.”

Traditional cultures often honor personal growth with rites of passage—time set apart for reflection, transition, and inner change. These ceremonies help people let go of the old and step into the new with meaning and intention. But in modern Western society, we tend to skip past the inward shift and only celebrate the visible results. The truth is: the waiting—the gestation—is a vital part of every transformation. That’s when the real becoming takes place.

Sometimes these changes are so gradual we don’t even realize they’re happening—until one day, we respond differently, and it hits us: I’ve grown.

Your Ideas Have a Gestation Period

Just like a baby has a due date, every idea has a timeline—some longer than others. The gestation period is the space between the moment a dream is conceived and the day it takes physical form. You may not know how long it will take, but you can estimate the level of effort, focus, and persistence required. While you can’t rush a baby’s growth, you can accelerate the development of an idea by choosing to focus your energy with intention.

Focus Accelerates Results

The more focused your thoughts and energy, the faster results come. Imagine driving from Point A to Point B: put your foot on the gas, and you expend more energy, which propels you towards your destination in less time. When you concentrate, you are sending more mental energy to that which you are focusing on.

Emerson said,
“The only thing that can grow is the thing that you give energy to.”

It is thus imperative that you choose carefully what you focus your mind on. Never disperse your efforts across too many things. This dissipates the power of your mental energy and protracts the gestation period for any given idea. This fits in with the maxim ‘A Jack of All Trades Is A Master of None.’ You need to specialize in a particular area and focus your entire mind on that area. Too many people try to do too many different things. As a result, it takes forever to manifest anything worthwhile. This is the reason why most people give up on their dreams. They feel it will never materialize because their lack of focus is extending the transmutation of energy into physical form. Those that focus on one thing at a time blaze a trail to their goal in the fastest time possible.

Leverage the Power of Questions

Once you’ve identified your most important goal—your “chief definite aim”—ask yourself:

• What can I do today to move this forward?

• How can I achieve this more efficiently?

• Can I leverage technology, collaboration, or expert knowledge to help bring this dream into reality faster?

Questions like these unlock creative solutions and reveal hidden resources.

Guard Against Negative Thoughts

Just like a farmer protects their crops, you must guard your thoughts. When you fix your attention on a goal, that idea is planted in your subconscious. But simply planting a seed isn’t enough—it needs care.

Nourish Your Ideas

Your dreams need nourishment—encouragement, belief, and action.

• Feed them with focus.

• Water them with visualization and affirmation.

• Expose them to the light of positive action.

• Uproot any limiting beliefs that threaten their growth.

Weed out doubts. Uplift your thoughts. Stick to prioritized tasks. Manage your time like a gardener—intentional, steady, and patient.

Trust in Divine Timing

Every goal worth having comes with a gestation period. You plant in one season and harvest in another. You don’t sow and reap in the same moment. So don’t get discouraged when your results take time. Trust that they are on their way to you, and will arrive when the timing is right.