Do things for yourself, not others. As my friend's mom so wisely said:
Life is too short to do shit you don't wanna do
While I had been considering this concept before I read the following, this comment really drove my thoughts home:
Beware of climbing what I call, "passive status hierarchies." It's okay to be motivated by status, but be aware of what hierarchy you're within, who within that hierarchy ultimately serves as the status decider, and most importantly, decide if the people within that structure are people - and the type of people - you want to earn status with.
It's really natural and common to find yourself within some social structure and to begin taking actions to raise your status without even realizing what you're doing. This can lead to some pretty weird and suboptimal life decisions.
Commonly, this looks like pursuing a career in academia because your peers are mainly students, and they are pursuing a career in academia, so naturally, you should do the same thing because if you were to succeed, your status would go up.
...or, climbing the corporate ladder in a department/field you don't care about and don't see yourself doing long-term.
...or, grinding rank/elo in a game because you like the idea of people respecting the color of your avatar's frame.
And then I asked myself: does anyone else really care about you achieving those things? The answer is probably no. And this holds true across the board, not just those examples. A man going to the gym doesn't attract throngs of women, it just prompts other men to ask how he got his [body part] that big; someone reading War and Peace doesn't impress anybody, it just looks haughty; having a managerial title at a large company doesn't make people ooh and ahh (unless it's a prestigious company, then that's a different story), it just shows you probably enjoy your job. In general, the ones that I hope would care don't and the I don't care about do care.
Do things for yourself, not others. Do things because they bring intrinsic satisfaction, not validation or status in the eyes of others. Do things in the hopes of pleasing oneself, not others. Do things because you want to, not because others want you to.
These commandments bring two advantages.
First, advancing in the activity is much more sustainable and rewarding when its done for personal enjoyment. Find a single person that has voluntarily done something long-term they don't truly enjoy to impress others. If they exist, it's most likely a miserable existence.
Second, bullshit is pruned. Robin Hanson believes that "well over 90 percent" of human behavior is signaling, and while some of it is valuable, a lot of it isn't, especially the behavior and actions that reap little to no benefits despite expecting them. Less bullshit in life is better, and doing things to impress others is bullshit that needs to be eliminated.
Examine hobbies, work obligations, and other regular activities and determine their purpose? Is it because it brings enjoyment, or because others may be impressed by it?
If the former, keep it up. If the latter, the answer is obvious. Enjoy the newfound freedom that comes after stopping it.