I found this article stressing the importance of being ranked #1 in Google for your particular keyword. It has a "chart" that shows the rough percentages of clicks that will typically be made for the ranks on the first page of search engine results.

I'm not sure where the data came from, but it does seem to make sense that the first item will get the most clicks, especially since various browsers have widgets that allow you to search for a particular set of keywords, and automatically direct you to the first result.

Personally, I look through the results for what looks to be the most-relevant to my search, and check out that link. Also, I typically view multiple pages returned in the search results. While I don't think that striving for #1 is "bad", I do think that you can do well if you're ranked somewhere between 1 and 3.

At any rate, my suggestion is to keep up your quality content, and continue to build proper back-links.