What if I didn't need to prove how valuable I was?

Have you ever noticed yourself striving to have someone else — your boss, your co-worker, your parents, your partner, your kids, or even random strangers — see you and acknowledge you and what you're doing? 

Like when you started a job or project and throw yourself into it enthusiastically 24/7. Do you do that purely because it's fun for you? Or are you doing some part (even all) of it to prove your worth to someone else? 

Does anyone ever acknowledge your value? When they don't, what do you do? Do you react, working even more frantically on it? Or maybe you do the opposite and completely lose motivation? 

If you'd prefer an alternative, when you notice people's lack of interest in what you're doing, ask yourself "What if I didn't need to prove how valuable I was?"  Then if you sense the project is not really fun for you and you were only doing it to prove something to someone, you can choose to simply stop. 

Or if your sense of excitement about the project grows, with allowance say to yourself "Aah well, I wasn't doing it for them anyway. I'll keep doing it 'cause it's fun for me! Just for me, just for fun, never tell anyone"?  All just choices valid for 10 seconds at a time. ​