The other day, I was reminded of a Sasuga! Podcast episode that I recorded during hotel quarantine back in January 2022 after visiting my parents in the UK for Christmas!
I shared some interesting English phrases.
And they serve as a gentle reminder to choose our thoughts and words carefully because they have a significant impact on how we feel and the results we get—both personally and professionally.
Below are the key points (and you can listen to the full episode here, if you like).
Laugh Before Breakfast, Cry Before Supper
One morning during my trip back to the UK, I woke up feeling full of energy.
I was singing and laughing with my mum.
And she said, “Laugh before breakfast, cry before dinner.”
I replied, “Is that a saying? Wow, that’s depressing…” 🤣
I’d never heard it before, so I looked it up…
And I discovered a whole series of similar sayings:
- Laugh before breakfast, cry before supper
- Sing before breakfast, cry before supper
- Laugh before seven, cry before eleven
- He who laughs on Friday will weep on Sunday
- Rejoice today and repent tomorrow
Wow, what sort of messages are we sending to ourselves when we unconsciously use these kinds of phrases?
I started to think about other common English phrases.
Here are 3 you might know.
1. Don’t count your chickens before they’re hatched
This means our eggs aren’t necessarily all going to become chickens.
It discourages us from looking forward to things.
People sometimes say it’s best not to get your hopes up because you might be disappointed.
But then we miss out on the exciting feeling of anticipation.
And I don’t know about you, but when I tell myself, “This is going to be GREAT!” it usually is.
On the other hand, if I say, “This is going to be terrible” (yes, I have had those times), then it usually is.
Even if things don’t turn out as we’d hoped, we always have a choice about how we respond.
It’s normal to feel some disappointment, but then we can choose to say, “Oh, well, that didn’t go the way I wanted.”
This means we can enjoy looking forward to something without being attached to it actually happening.
So we could change Don’t count your chickens before they’re hatched to…
“Count your eggs and enjoy imagining your chickens.”
Now here’s another one…
2. Curiosity killed the cat
This suggests that a cat got curious about something and was killed as a result.
It discourages us from being curious about new things.
But curiosity is a wonderful quality for personal and professional growth. We get curious and we learn more.
So we could change Curiosity killed the cat to…
“Curiosity made the cat’s life more interesting” or maybe “Cowardice kept the cat stuck.”
3. Once bitten, twice shy
One of our hamsters—Manuel—used to bite when you held him.
Naturally, most children wouldn’t want to hold a hamster like that.
But Keri quickly found a solution: she wore gloves!
The phrase “Once bitten, twice shy” discourages us from doing something again after a bad experience.
But bad experiences are a part of the learning process.
For example, have you ever given a presentation and your mind went blank?
(BTW, that’s totally normal and we cover why and how to deal with it in my presentation skills programs.)
The thing is that when you give another presentation and keep practicing (especially with the right guidance), you get better.
So we could change Once bitten, twice shy to…
“Once bitten, twice get better.”
I asked my mum if we had any positive phrases that family members used.
Great grandma’s words of wisdom
Mum said, my great grandmother used to say,
“Good, better, best.
Never let it rest
Until your good is better
And your better best.”
I love the idea that this is about personal growth. We can always improve.
When they first come to me, many of my Japanese clients say, “I’m not good at English.”
I encourage them to choose a different story:
“I’m getting better at English every time I practice.”
It’s amazing how much better they feel and the results they get when they start being careful about their thoughts and words (in Japanese as well as in English).
And I’m looking forward to more personal and professional growth for myself in 2026—as well as helping superstars like you to step up and surprise yourselves with what you can do and who you can be!