In the later stages of my career I wound up in a management position where I was responsible for a large number of people. The primary lesson I learned from that experience is that people are concerned about their lot in life relative to one another more than in absolute terms. For some time, I was surprised at the extent of people's reactions to even the slightest unevenness of distribution of tasks or rewards.
Today I find that being free from obcession to compare my own life's status to others is a wonderful thing and I try to have that outlook as much as possible. Everyone lives their life on their own terms and I'm happy to let them without needing to compare my own lifestyle decisons to theirs. I did it my own way and whether I spent a little more and therefore FIRED a little later or whether I beat a buddy into ER or ......... whatever, has come to have little consequence for me.
No competitive race here.