&gt;I feel regret almost every single day and constantly feel 1 or 2 years behind the curve.<p>I&#x27;m not sure how old you are, but I&#x27;m guessing you&#x27;re pretty young. The older you get the less a year or two matters matters.<p>By the time you&#x27;re 30, no one (not even yourself) will notice that you are 2 years behind your peers (based on whatever metric you&#x27;re using). In fact, the older you get, the harder it is to measure what being 2 years behind even means.<p>And, just think about the huge variations in life span. Say, for example, George finished college 2 years later than Bob. However, George lived to 90 and was able to do productive work right up to the end, and Bob died at 78. George had an entire extra decade, even though he had a slightly later start.