Doing well in competitions is an indicator of a pretty good grasp on a recipe and process, but like you, I tend to be highly critical of my own brews. I have a reasonably good palate, but when it comes to my beer, I tend to grade it below where it ends up in competitions. As I have said before, I prefer to chase the unicorn on lighter, low ABV beers to see if I can make something that I think is acceptable to me. I tinker with recipes, try different process changes and don't overuse harvested yeast (though many get right on stride after 5-6 pitches). I don't use gelatin and I get close to perfectly clear beer after a short lagering (most of the time).
My water is RO, so I tend to use the same level of salts, BTB and Whirlfloc, as well as yeast nutrient and good O2 addition via "wine degasser" whipping on re-pitches. I may have to try a gelatin pitch on a clean lager, just to see if I can detect any difference. I suspect your palate is more discerning than mine (when I judge with younger judges, I always defer to their better "taster", knowing that my 60+ year old palate is not what it used to be!)