Egotistical people do two things. 1. They turn people off/away from them and 2. Once they have turned the people away they believe they are better than everyone else and then take over the void left by the people who don't want to deal with them. that is why egotistical people appear to have greater success.

Everyone has an ego and everyone hates having their ego trampled on.

The only difference between people is what they consider trampling as opposed to acceptable levels of sacrificing their self interest.

I think, coming to an accurate conclusion about whether someone is egotiscal, is much more complicated than most would think.

Egotists tend to be more assertive than the average person leading them to becoming dominate in their workplace and ''acquiring'' seniority without necessarily having the ability to properly maximize the potential of their position. Most people will back away from confronting such egomaniacs so they rise to power by default, a bit like Hitler.

I am an Egotist/Egoist, and I find that maximizing personal well-being is the most obvious way in which to live. You are obligated to maximize personal livelihood and to do otherwise places you on a spectrum of mental debilitation.

And assuming that Psychological Egoism is true (which it is) you have no choice but to maximize personal well-being as you are only motivated through self-interest (again, except for the special cases).