Self-presentation and Self-achievement 自我表現與自我成就
We all want others to see us as confident, competent, and likeable. In fact, we make dozens of decisions every day to get people to see us as we want to be seen. Success requires interacting with other people. We can’t control the other side of those interactions. But we can think about how the other persons might see us and make choices about what we want to convey. 
Self-presentation is any behavior or action made with the intention to influence or change how other people see us. Anytime, we’re trying to get people to think of us a certain way. It’s an act of self-presentation. Generally speaking, we work to present ourselves as favorably as possible. We want to make sure that we show up in a way that not only makes us look good, but also makes us feel good about ourselves. To some extent, every aspect of our lives depends on successful self-presentation. For example, we do want our families to feel that we are worthy of attention and love. We present ourselves as studious and responsible to our teachers at school. We want to be fun and interesting at a party, and to be confident at networking events.
In order to achieve the results that we want, it often requires that we behave a certain way. That is, we do certain behaviors that are desirable in certain situations. In this sense, matching our behavior to the circumstances enhances us to connect to others, and attune to the needs and feelings of others. According, we might feel surprised when people don’t present themselves in a way that is consistent with the demands of their roles. For instance, in the classroom, if we are the presenters who are responsible for explaining the main ideas of the handout to students, we cannot only read the passages without any further interpretations. Perhaps, we are shy and get nervous in front of people, or we just don’t fully prepare to speak up. Nevertheless, that is not the enough reason. As a result, we can see that teachers and students are very disappointed with us. In this situation, we hardly accomplish our duties completely.
Because we spend so much time with other people in society, and our success largely depends on what they think of us, successful self-presentation is one of the most important factors when we interact with others. Some people are particularly concerned about creating a good impression before others. Therefore, we have to provide evidences that we are the best persons in every aspect. At its heart, self-presentation requires a high-level self-awareness and empathy. In order to make sure that we’re showing up as our best in every circumstance, we have to be aware of our own motivations as well as what would make the biggest differences to others.
Again, take presenters in the classroom as an example. To carry out the best self-presentation, first of all, we need to know well for our roles to have the oral presentation. We read over the handout in detail, and distribute the content of the handout to group members. Secondly, we discuss how to teach and point out key elements of the handout with group members. We, then, get feedback and suggestions from other group members. Thirdly, we ask all the members to brainstorm together for creating the review sheet according to the handout. We, next, share our viewpoints with one another. At last, we should rehearse all the oral presentations in English in order that we can present the best teaching materials in class. Anyway, self-presentation is defined as the way we try to show off in front of others, but it’s just as much about how we would see ourselves, too. Consciously working to make sure that others could see the very best of us is a wonderful way to develop into the persons we want to be.
Furthermore, self-achievement is also very important for students in the classroom. When students focus better on their own progress, they, thereby, develop a stronger sense of achievement. Achievement, in positive psychology, is about more than getting top marks in class. When students can see their own progress in learning, and mastering a subject or skill, they will feel a sense of achievement. Self-achievement for students requires clearly defined objectives, goals and expectations. Once, students, themselves, have a strong understanding of the goals to complete, they, just then, acknowledge and build self-achievement. Studies have shown that feeling a sense of accomplishment is an important element in developing positive wellbeing for students. Research also points out that people with a strong sense of purpose, persistence and accomplishment perform better at school and work. For some students, submitting assignments on time, or showing up to every class might be important markers of progress and their achievement of a goal. We do appreciate them to have their self-achievement. Self-achievement really helps students to have confidence in their school lives. Therefore, the importance of self-presentation and self-achievement cannot be overemphasized. All in all, self-presentation brings self-achievement, and self-achievement approaches toward success. Thus, we, including teachers and students, have to recognize our earnest efforts to accomplish things in our lives, and be proud of what we are doing with our whole hearts.