Status isn't an end in itself. There are benefits associated with status. Higher status has more benefits. On the other hand, it takes a lot of effort to increase one's status and the enterprise is fraught with uncertainty. Playing the status game has its own opportunity costs and trade-offs.

At the high end, one runs into the Sword of Damocles. Being king has its perks, but it is a high-risk, high-stress position. There's always someone gunning for your spot, lying in wait to pounce when you show weakness. It's not even certain that the benefits of the position are worth the risks involved and the high chance of failure when pursuing it.

It seems to me that most people are willing to settle for a certain status depending on how good the benefits are and the difficulties involved in getting there. Once settled, they'd be fine with improving their status if it can be done cheaply, but may not think it worth expending a lot of effort.