Another great article. It is insightful, and to the point. Anybody can understand this, because the single bare fact is quite simple: average is for losers. I had a conversation about this exact topic with someone yesterday, who insisted that average is easier and thus better. No lie. I could not believe what I was hearing. This person is intelligent and hard working enough to be much more than average, but it's easier to just be average.

They say it's lonely at the top. The people that know me in real life think I'm strange, "intense", or something else along those lines. Most of them have no idea how being different is so similar to being better. No one has any idea how positively that has affected my financial success.

Being different gave me an edge over everyone else, that eventually translated into comparatively large amounts of wealth. It allowed me to think about what it will take for me to be better than average. To my surprise, it was not more work, because everyone is already working too much. It was not more debt, and stuff.

Without revealing too much personal info: I work below average amounts, earn below average amounts, ponder my investments far above average amounts, and have built assets far above average amounts. Below average, above average - it doesn't matter, as long as it's not average.

I know many people who are doing the easy, average thing. They work, go to school, buy stuff, and accumulate debt. They're killing themselves trying to be average, and they're going nowhere.

This is one of the most entertaining cold-hard-truth things I've read in a long time:

http://bluntmonkey.wordpress.com/2011/02/22/dear-single-people-of-los-angeles-youre-not-all-8s/

It's kind of long, you don't need to read it all. My interpretation of it is that average is much lower than average people think it is. In other words, you have to stand out. Lady Gaga knows that - If you can't be ridiculously beautiful, then you have to be ridiculously hideous Either way, it can work to your benefit if you make the most of what you have, without reaching beyond your grasp by trying to be like people who are not you.

I didn't come from a rich family, I didn't have good beginnings, and I had pretty much every disadvantage imaginable. I was able to twist it all to my advantage just by not trying to be like everyone else, who had better families, better beginnings, and no disadvantages - I had to figure out how to not be average, and still get ahead. Step one was to not care what anyone else assumed about me.

The hardest part is getting through the first 5 years. After that, it gets easier. I haven't forgotten how hard it was to get here, but now that I'm here (wealthier), it feels pretty good. I appreciate what I've earned, because I earned it hard, and I still don't care if people think I'm below average. If that's where I have to go to be better than average, then so be it

Lol, you're right, average depends in everyone else involved. Fortunately, the bar is pretty low.

Additionally, it isn't necessary to be better than average in everything. You just have to better than average at whatever it is you choose to focus on. It is certainly possible for everyone to be above average in their own particular interests as not all participants are really focusing.

So, I come back to the point that it isn't that hard to be better than average. You just have to choose to be so and put in the effort required.

Stop acting rich and start living like a real millionaire

Is that book like the Millionaire Next Door book?  The main point of that book just seemed to be "live frugally".  Buy cars used instead of new, cut coupons, etc.

The book goes into really exhaustive detail about the difference between what actual rich people do vs what poor people think rich people do. And yes, the take home message is live frugally, invest the difference in your best area.