Glossary

End / endgaining

The ‘end’ of an action is the reason why it is performed; that is, the result, goal, or desired outcome.

In the Alexander technique, the term ‘endgaining’ refers to the process of going directly for an end by focusing entirely on the goal we wish to gain. When doing this, we don't necessarily consider whether the process used for meeting our goal (our means whereby) is actually the best for our purpose. We may also force ourselves towards our goal at any cost and irrespective of any harmful effects that may result from misuse of the self.

Endgaining is a universal habit. We are taught to be ‘endgainers’ from an early age by both our educational system and modern Western culture in general. FM Alexander saw ‘endgaining’ with its pure focus on the end as a highly damaging process. He instead believed that the process used to meet a goal must be prioritised over the end result in order to achieve a genuinely positive result.

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