Three years ago, the once-might Arsenal FC finished a feeble 8th place in the premiere league table. Many fans were calling for their manager, Mikael Arteta, to be sacked.

Last week Arsenal finished second in the league, only 2 points away from winning it and Arteta is now one of the world’s sought-after managers. In an interview, when asked about how his team had achieved such progress, he stressed the importance of marginal improvements. He cited replacing one excellent and hugely popular goalkeeper, Aaron Ramsdale, with another, Ravid Raya, who was better with the ball at his feet, and using a tall attacker, Kai Havertz, to shore up the defence at set pieces. In earlier interviews he’s talked about the importance of players making marginal improvements to their game, e.g. full backs marginally increasing their sprint speeds or centre-halves learning to jump an extra inch. It all helps.

Most football managers could improve their teams if given £100 million to buy a world-class striker, but Chelsea and Manchester United fans will know that this doesn’t always work; and Improving a team significantly by marginal improvements shows a lot more about the manager’s talents.  

What’s this go to do with depression and mood? Quite a lot, IMHO: I now realise that while suffering from deep depression in my 20s, I was looking for a ”big hit to cure my ills – roughly”  the equivalent of adding £100m 30-goals-a-season striker to an underperforming team. I changed jobs often, moved areas, went to live abroad, went back to university and did a master’s degree. All were disappointments and some made things worse, by my losing regular contact with friends and adding more instability to my life. (Like the great Joni Mitchell famously put it “You don’t know what you’ve got ‘til it’s gone.”) Not to mention fostering unrealistic expectations.

Now, much older, and I hope a bit wiser, I’ve learned the importance of marginal improvements. Recently I’ve improved my health significantly by a new exercise regime, halving my alcohol intake and making dietary changes over a period of 3 months. I‘ve lifted my mood by small things like improving a depressing and dingy rooms at home with a lick of paint, and  buying some new posters/houseplants for it; and organised a few days out/meals with friends to pep up my diary. Even a bit of success with some new recipes has given me a small lift.

I still sometimes get fed up with where I live and dream of a more exciting life in a dynamic city, by the sea or a river, or living on a canal barge – but I realise to make such a big change would risk throwing out the baby with the dirty bathwater. So marginal changes it is.

So – any ideas on good marginal changes that you’d like to share?“

Oldie but Goldie

A Moodscope member