Criteria are defined by other people. Also because the goal is to contribute. If you were born with cannibals, you would have self-improved to capture more bodies from the other tribe. You would have believed that is the right, just, honorable thing to do.
You can't define all goals completely by yourself, you couldn't imagine them. There's no magic in how you come up with your motivation: What you see is what you get (in this case ^^).
However, it isn't useful to overdo this. Because you have individual strengths. Following closely the steps of others won't bring out your own best. You need to combine; and optimally, to make your strengths eventually reach the goals that would help others too.
Envy, I think, is a result of language and symbols, viewing each other as the same thing. You don't envy the stars in sky, because you know they are not like you. Just enjoying them is enough. But you assume the other person is just like you, from the same entity, and you should (must!) be able at reach their level. This is a little misleading. There are additional passions involved like pride, duty, righteousness; they could burden you with unjustified harshness.
I think, if you were free from such burden, you would eventually achieve more, developing your own abilities. Every person that you envy, also could envy you about another quality (for example, for the lacking of the quality they possess, which surely has negative sides you can't be aware of). You both could assist each other to improve weaknesses, but none of you would reach the other. So there's no reason for envy really, when people are able to fully understand and appreciate their personal qualities and the qualities of the others.
In short: The key is people to understand what they are, and not be expected to be something they aren't.
