Some time ago, at university, I found myself going through a period of depression. Every little thing felt like an imposition, another problem, I felt overwhelmed by the sheer quantity of things to overcome.

The best advice I got was that it is best to start small, remember that everything that you do is an achievement. The problem was that I felt I had to solve it all before I would be where I wanted to be. As a result every little thing was an addition to this mountain I had to climb. Tiny things like doing the washing up or even feeding myself became things I resented and became stressed over.

The advice worked because it made my see that I didn't have to solve everything before I would be where I wanted to be. I realised that the journey is the experience, not the arriving there. As I have changed and developed my desired destination has changed frequently and I know now that I will always be on a journey towards a distant destination, so I'd better get down to enjoying the travelling!

The things that I started to do were very small, simply straightening that picture that had annoyed me, or re-arranging my notes for a lecture course. However once I started to see results I built an upward spiral and lifted myself out of the funk I had been in.

This lesson has many parallels in things I have read and heard recently:

In discussing chaos theory it seems apparent that many small causes build up to an action. This can lead to the butterfly's wings flapping in Japan cause a hurricane in the Atlantic concept. This may be one of the causes, but it is unlikely to be the only influence, however it was all that it took in combination with all the other millions of factors to cause the hurricane.

In learning about the brain, neurons similarly have many thousands of inputs, but only one output. These inputs are regularly firing, but a critical mass of density of input must be built up before it acts and fires an output. The threshold at which it fires off is also dependent on many factors making for an unbelievably complex system. The message? - One tiny additional input can cause the neuron to fire, seemingly out of all proportion to the additional input.

Two great quotes:

"Dr. Deming always reminded me that "the power of the people has never been tested." Leadership and management is a tough business that requires a great deal of thought, and the more I focused my thoughts on the transformation of others, the less effective I was in implementing any positive change strategy. I found I needed to understand "what was possible" rather than "what was impossible." In time, I began to appreciate this perspective, and understood what was possible together rather than alone. As a result, many positive things began to happen in my organisation. I found I could influence outcomes I had never thought possible before. This is how I made a difference.

We may not be able to change the world, but we can affect the places where we live and work every day. As Rob Gray put it in last year's forum, "we are all CEOs." We are CEOs of our lives 24/7. We have the power to influence our co-workers, families, friends, and the people around us."

"Each time a man stands up for an idea, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centres of energy and daring, those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.

Few are willing to brave the disapproval of their fellows, the censure of their colleagues, the wrath of their society. Moral courage is a rarer commodity than bravery in battle or greater intelligence. Yet it is the one essential, vital quality for those who seek to change a world that yields most painfully to change."

Robert Kennedy

So even though major differences can be achieved with the right density of the slightest influences I now find that the difficulty is to maintain the progress once you have reached a level of happiness and contentment. This drive, or energy, needs to be topped up on a regular basis to keep going. One of the ways I get my energy is be talking with people and thinking about new connections. This website is proving to be a great source of energy!

In conclusion, although it is a difficult thing to realise in actuality, if you can genuinely try and influence and improve everything and everyone that your life touches then you really can change your world - no matter how seemingly small the contribution.

Dave would love to know of small things that happened to you that had a big impact, or things that you did that surprised you with their outcomes. He'll compile a list of the responses for our enjoyment.

• Dave has put the Robert Kennedy quote (from above) on the wall of his cubicle. Despite the fact that his cubicle wall is crowded with paper everyone who visits his cubicle seems to stop to read it. Today a colleague stopped mid sentence and just read it. Great!