By Monica Zollinger

Many times, I’ve been in the car with my family, driving to visit relatives or explore new places. Halfway through the trip, without fail, I hear, “Are we there yet?” That’s usually when we get into a conversation about how amazing it would be if we could just teleport and be there instantly. But of course, we’ve never been able to do that. How long it takes depends entirely on where we’re headed.

When we think about this example—or even things like having a baby or planting a garden—it’s clear there’s a process involved. First, there’s an idea or a desire. Then we plant the seed, nourish it, and wait for it to grow, trusting that it eventually will. Every process takes a certain amount of time. But for some reason, we often forget that. We want everything now. We don’t want to drive all the long hours on the right roads to reach our destination. We just want to snap our fingers and be there.

The law of gestation says it this way:
"Every seed of thought has a gestation or incubation period. This seed of thought will move into form or physical results when the time is right."

This law ties directly into the laws of thought. When we imagine something we truly want, we must believe it will happen—and trust that it will happen at the right time.

The same principle applies when setting goals. It’s a process. Write the goal. Feel the emotion behind it. Take action. Keep feeling and keep acting until the results show up. Trust that it will happen at the right time.

Take planting tomatoes, for example. If you plant tomato seeds but don’t bother watering the soil, pulling the weeds, or nurturing the seedlings, what happens? You guessed it—the plant dies.

We do the same thing with our goals all the time. Maybe we start off strong: we write down the goal, stick it on the wall or the bathroom mirror, and get really excited. We believe it can happen. But then? We stop feeding it. We don’t visualize it anymore. We don’t affirm it. We don’t take daily action steps toward it. Eventually, the goal withers and dies, just like the tomato plant.

We have to realize that whether we’re planting seeds, having a baby, or taking a road trip, it takes time. The key is to enjoy the process and keep going. Even if we run out of gas, take a detour, or stop for more bathroom breaks than we planned, we don’t quit and go home. We keep driving because we know we’ll get there.

Now, when our kids ask, “Are we there yet?” we just say, “In about an hour.”
It might be an hour—or ten—but we don’t usually turn around and head home. We keep going until we reach the destination.

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