This evening I'll go to fencing. I may well get in a bout, but I'm more concentrated on making each touch than on winning the bout. A parry in quarte, rounding to octave and scoring a touch, done correctly, is more important to me than scoring five and winning. So much so that I only "dry fence" -- no electrical scoring.

Ditto for riflery. Out at the range I'm concentrating on the placement of each shot, trying to get the best out of myself and my equipment, than on an overall score.

And I'm not competing against myself, since I don't try to outdo myself each time I go to anything.