How Future Smells Like

NEXTletter is your practice for shaping what’s next. More than a newsletter, it’s a space to pause, reflect, and experiment. Every other Friday, you’ll get one question, two perspectives, and one experiment — to help you create the future you most want to live in.

Author

Frederik Pferdt
October 24, 2025

Prefer to listen 📻 > click here.

How scent and breath can bring you back to yourself—and forward to what’s next.

Most people try to think their way into the future.
And when they imagine it, they see it first.

Flying cars. Clean cities. Robots doing the laundry.

We’ve been trained to picture the future as a scene—a visual.
But what if the future doesn’t begin in your eyes?
What if it begins in your nose?
What if your way forward starts with a single breath?

MEtreat in Frankfurt

Are you interested in working with Dr. Frederik on your future vision, having a breathwork experience with Elena and joining us in Frankfurt? Check all details here.

ONE QUESTION

What does your future smell like?

Let me ask you something simple—but strange:
What does your future smell like?

Not metaphorically. Literally.

Is it sharp like citrus? Earthy like pine? Alive like the ocean at sunrise?
Or maybe it’s still scentless—waiting to be discovered.

This isn’t just poetic musing. It’s science. It’s design.
And for me, it’s become a personal ritual.

TWO PERSPECTIVES

1️⃣ Smell is not decoration. It’s direction.

We underestimate our nose. It’s the only sense that bypasses logic and goes straight to where memory, emotion, and imagination live. That’s why one familiar breath can bring tears—or take you back to a childhood kitchen or a moment of love.

Scent doesn’t just recall the past. It rehearses the future. It’s a shortcut to how you want to feel—and who you want to become. When we’re stuck in our heads, we can inhale something grounding, energizing, beautiful—and shift how we feel. And when we shift how we feel, we unlock what we do next.

In Mexico City, my daughter and I once visited a museum where each photo came with a scent—a forest, oranges, even rain. It reminded me: images show us the future. Scent lets us feel it.

2️⃣ This smells
like hope.

At a book signing, I reached for a tiny bottle before my pen. Inside: a scent my daughter made, called The Future—lavender, ginger, citrus, earthy notes, and something unnamed.

I sprayed it on the first page. The person inhaled, closed their eyes, and whispered, “This smells like hope. Like clarity. Like something new is possible.”
That’s it. The future isn’t something we predict. It’s something we practice feeling—often before the first word,
with a breath, a scent, a moment.

ONE EXPERIMENT

The Future Scent Ritual

This week, I invite you to make your future tangible—through your senses.

Try this: Find a scent that stirs something in you—lavender, cinnamon, fresh air after rain, a favorite candle, or even a dab of sunscreen if summer is your happy place.

Each morning, before emails, before urgency begins: Close your eyes. Inhale deeply—slow in, slow out through your nose. Ask yourself: What energy do I want to carry into this day?

Let the scent anchor you. Not to your past—but to your intention for what’s next.

1:1 Future Being Coaching

If you’re ready to not just travel to places - but travel into the next version of yourself - my Future Being Coaching is for you. In this 1:1 program, we explore who you want to become, uncover the inner and outer blocks keeping you from that future, and design concrete steps so you can live it now. It’s for people who don’t want to wait for change to happen - they want to shape it.

On The Podcast

Last week in New York, I handed Suzy Welch a small bottle of my Future Scent — and somehow, that moment captured exactly what we ended up talking about: how purpose isn’t something you find somewhere out there… it’s something you feel, every day.

Suzy is one of the most authentic voices on leadership and purpose today — a bestselling author, journalist, and educator whose work you might know from Harvard Business Review, NBC’s Today Show, or her new book Becoming You.

In this episode of The Future Is HOW, we explore what it really means to live “on purpose.” We talk about how values evolve through life’s big changes, why purpose is less of a finish line and more of a compass, and how simple rituals — from prayer to walking your dog — can keep you grounded in what matters most.

🎧 Listen to The Future Is HOW with Suzy Welch — and ask yourself:
What if your purpose isn’t waiting to be found, but waiting to be felt?

Bonus: The Breath Beneath the Scent

In his book Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art, James Nestor reminds us:
Many of us have unlearned how to breathe properly.
Over time, we’ve become mouth breathers—especially at night—and it’s silently affecting our energy, focus, and emotional state.

Breathing through the nose isn’t just more natural—it’s more powerful. It produces nitric oxide, which improves oxygen absorption, supports circulation, and calms the nervous system.

That’s why some people are now placing a small piece of tape over their lips at night to gently retrain their bodies to breathe nasally. It may sound strange—but studies suggest it can improve sleep quality, reduce snoring, and help you wake up more rested. (Of course, always check with a professional if you're unsure.)

Some hotels and even airlines now offer calming scents for sleep—sprays for your pillow or mask. So next time you wake in the middle of the night—or can’t fall asleep—instead of grabbing your phone, grab a small scent bottle.
Spray your cushion.

Let your future begin again… with one breath.

Why This Matters

We live in a world that’s constantly pushing us toward urgency.
But transformation doesn’t start in the hustle.
It begins in the inhale.

Before the big ideas.
Before the plans.
Before the strategy.

There’s a pause.
A breath.
A scent.
A moment when something inside you says:
“This is who I want to become.”

With future love,
Frederik

P.S.:

I still spray the first page of my book with my daughter’s “Future Scent.” It’s a small act. But for many, it changes everything.

If you were to bottle your future—what would it smell like?

Write me. I’d love to hear what your next chapter feels like when you breathe it in.

Because the future isn’t ahead of you. It’s within you. And it starts now—with your next breath.