start off on the right foot, to

To have a positive or favorable start. In an effort to start off on the right foot this semester, I've already begun to research for my thesis.

If you start off on the right foot or get off on the right foot, you immediately have success when you begin an activity or a relationship. Share your feelings, both positive and negative. If you decide to go ahead, you will be starting off on the right foot. In order to get off on the right foot, he presented her with a couple of expensive front-row tickets for the show. Compare with be caught on the wrong foot. Compare with get off on the wrong foot.

To begin auspiciously. This term is a version of put one’s best foot forward. Ancient superstition had it that the right foot was the best, whereas the left was unlucky. Hence early versions of this expression include “With prosperous foot approach” and “Right foot first.” (See also got up on the wrong side of bed.) The converse of this locution is to get off on the wrong foot. Both became clichés in the twentieth century.