Class Clowns Taking Over The World Of Success

Growing up I was that quiet kid who wasn’t too popular among my fellow classmates. I was the one that always got straight A’s and didn’t give much import to social interaction. That is, until I got to high school. During high school I jumped from one end of the spectrum to the other. During my teen years I didn’t bother to do much studying.

I don’t believe I read an entire book during those four years — except for the “Harry Potter” series of course. I didn’t do homework, I didn’t prepare for exams, but I did crack jokes — lots of them. Maybe I decided that I needed to make up for my years of solitude. Maybe I was just being rebellious and really did not give a shit about my schooling.

Whatever the case, I am better for being a class clown. There are several reasons why being a class clown during high school can later be of benefit. Here are five reasons why that class clown you grew up with is likely to be successful:

5. They have mastered the skill of slacking.

Being a class clown takes more effort than most people believe. A proper clown will manage not only to make a joke of the educational institution, but also manage to get by with slightly above average marks. Learning to maximize minimum effort is an art. This is not to say that slacking is something that we ought to do — nevertheless, it is something that all of us do. There always comes a time when we become a bit burned from all the hard work that we have been putting in for months on end.

Finding yourself unable to work at your regular capacity can be disheartening and stressful, only worsening your state. The class clown, a.k.a. professional slacker, has perfected the art of getting away with doing very little work. This, of course, is not something to praise when having the ability passionately to do more. But when we need to recharge, being able to do jack-shit and make it look like the work of an above average employee is very useful.

4. Class Clowns hone in on their lying skills.

We all lie — some more than others. Class clowns particularly have a lively ability to make a falsehood believable. I am sure that you have all been told that “lying is bad” at some point in your life. But let’s be honest… it is a necessity of life. Getting yourself out of difficult corners when your back is up against the wall is a survival skill.

There are many times when lying will not cause anyone any harm, but will rather help maintain a business relationship. Lying can become addicting and be used to cause ill will, but having so much practice, class clowns tend to know where to draw the line.

3. They’re funny. Funny works.

Making a girl laugh may get her to drop her pants, but making a possible investor laugh is likely to get them to drop that ink on the dotted line. Business partners will only work with people whom they believe they can trust, people whom they get along with. Having a keen ability to make people smile or chuckle will break the ice and allow them to feel more comfortable in your presence. Having a good sense of humor — for whatever reason — makes people feel that you are trustworthy.

Having such a skill is not easy. It relies on having the ability to read people and understand them. It requires having a sense of what is likely to be going on in their mind and understanding what they would find amusing — and appropriate. Different people have different senses of humor. Being able to read their personality and find a level ground of humor will make them more comfortable with the thought of doing business with you. Class clowns have spent years perfecting this ability.

2. They tend to be more ballsy.

Some of the comments that class clowns make are risqué — borderline inappropriate if not over the fence. Class clowns have a tendency for pushing things to the limit. They try their luck at poking at a professor or a situation and see how far they can take it before they get reprimanded. They take on risk. This should most obviously be a skill that all successful people have.

In order to be successful you must have the guts to take risks. At the same time, however, you must also learn how far you ought to push things, how high of a risk you are comfortable with taking and when to back down in order not to get bitten. These are all skills of risk management that class clowns teach themselves without even knowing that they are doing so.

1. They present life as it is: one big joke.

Life can easily be taken too seriously — and it often is. Life is known for throwing shit our way and gauging our reactions. How we react to problems, how we see them, may be the difference between success and failure itself. People can only take so much stress before they break and crumble; stress itself relies on how we perceive events.

When we perceive issues to be of great importance and mistakes or failures to be detrimental, then we are bound to remain failures. Being able to look on the brighter side of things, being able to always see a way out of the tunnel, understanding that life is meant to be laughed at, will keep you fighting the good fight for much longer.