English Idiom: Set the stage
If we set the stage, we prepare for something that will happen later. We can use this idiom in many periods of our lives.
For example, the initial creation of good study habits in their youth will benefit students when they face heavy workloads and strict study schedules in university.
Therefore, studying hard in high school will set the stage for academic success in University.
Also, if you work in a Japanese company, then you know Japanese companies love to have meetings.
Japanese companies enjoy meetings so much they have meetings to set the stage for subsequent meetings; they have a meeting to prepare for a meeting.
They even have the dreaded five-o’clock-on-Friday-evening-to-prepare-for-next-week meeting.
Of course, we can’t forget the mandatory drinking parties which take up your entire evening and leave you feeling sick the next day.
A final example of how to use this idiom relates to retirement.
If a person lives a healthy life and saves a lot of money, then they will set the stage for an active and happy retirement.