Don’t even be mediocre. When a company needs a service, they want the best. You can’t hire 10 mediocre talents and mash them together to get the best. The best is one and carries an immense value with it.
If you can be the best, you can charge the premium. And companies will pay for you.
If you’re mediocre, you’re interchangeable. Spend all your time, energy, and extra money working, practicing, and learning to become the best that you can be.
Mediocrity doesn’t compound together and make greatness. Thus, one extraordinary talent is worth far more than a dozen mediocre middlemen.