Winning and being a winner can be two different things as well. Did you hear about the USA Olympic shooter in Athens that shot on the wrong target on his last shot in the final and lost the Gold Medal? What was not so widely broadcast was how the shooter handled his mistake. Once he fully understood what had happened 23 year-old Matt Emmons was the first to congratulate the winner. He took the responsibility for his error and accepted the consequences with grace and honor. You do not have to win to be a winner. One could also argue that who you become is equally important to where you finish in the long run.So, should we be concerned at all about winning? Certainly! And the best focus, in my view, is on a winning performance not on finishing on top. I suggest that if you have paid the price and have developed the skill to win an event that you goal set to have a winning performance on the day of competition instead of goal setting to win the competition. What is the difference you ask? If you goal set to have a winning performance you will always be process-oriented and not outcome-oriented. You will be much less likely to over-try in the competition because you are always focused on the hole you are on and not counting your score. I’ll give you one more reason to focus on having a winning performance instead of winning the event. The golfer with the best performance in a tournament does not always win it. If you’ve been golfing any time at all you have seen this happen or had it happen to you. You can draw a late start time when the weather is brutal and be beaten by one stroke by someone on a calmer time call. Who really had the better day? If you had both been golfing at the same time you just might have been the victor. Stay at this game long enough and what is taken away will be given as well.