You don't turn a river by abruptly trying to get it to change direction. You don't have that much power. No matter how strong you are. The river will just overwhelm you and obstinately carry on pretty much as before. You can't make it change direction overnight. No one can. On the contrary, you have to start by flowing with it

We must be drawn by the idea of where we want to go more than we dislike the idea of all the work it is going to take to get there.

Influence is independent of numbers. Influencing positive change in one person is still influence.