What does 出人头地 mean?
出人頭地


比喻超越他人，獨露頭角 Metaphor to surpass others, to stand alone


解釋： 讓他高出一頭。語本宋．歐陽修〈與梅聖俞書〉：「讀軾書，不覺汗出。快哉，快哉！老夫當避路，放他出一頭地也。』」後指超越他人，獨露頭角

出 = 超出 (Exceed); 高出 (higher than)
人 = people/ others
頭 = head (refers to the length of one head -- used here as a measuring unit)
地 = ground
The origin of '出人頭地' was  a quote from a famous scholar 歐陽修: '(放他)出一頭地' = '(give way and let him) get one head length of ground ahead'
Long story short,  歐陽修 read a great article and remarked &quot;This author is great, I should give way and let him get one head length of ground ahead of me (in future achievements)&quot;
The modern usage of 出人頭地 is 'to become successful in society' in general