Garlic! The stench of it on another person’s breath when we haven’t indulged. It’s up there with stale coffee, cigarettes and the smell of old beer in the carpet of a clubhouse floor (trust me on that one!)

Of all our senses smell is perhaps the one that is given least credit. Is it really possible, not to mention probable, to ‘smell’ our way through life without ever being aware of it.

Your unconscious mind, however, has built up quite a library of smells and the associations (both physical and emotional) that go with them.

Smell can be the most evocative of the senses when memories are involved. Case in point is a certain shampoo that reminds of a holiday taken, a flower that evokes the smell of childhood or a hand cream that will forever be the essence of my nana.

Is there any smell in the world like the skin of a newborn baby? The familiar warm smells of your own child as they cuddle you or your partner when snuggling their neck in the night. What about the immediate anticipation evoked on entering the house and the smell of baking wafts to greet us at the door?

While smell definitely comes into play in a physical and tangible sense in many instances most people rely heavily on their visual, auditory or kinesthetic (feelings) to explain their world.

We fling these primary predicates around when we speak as part of our internal operating system all the time.

A visually dominated person may state that a comment was illuminating when they imagined what it would look like. “I’m all ears”, says the person depending on auditory input to best express the ideas that “harmonize” with their inner self. And of course there are others who grasp at an idea with a gut feeling that they’ll get a handle on being kinesthetic, or ‘feeling’ some how.

Knowing this, and harnessing the power of the knowledge, is a wonderful way to build rapport with others.

So what about smell? This is your olfactory system and sometimes the unconscious mind will pull out its associations to that part of you as well when it is seeking to explain the world around you in words.

• “I’m just nosing around here and something smells a bit fishy about all this!"
• "The lingering scent of success is in the air. He’s really got a nose for this work!”

Now lest someone has a sour taste in their mouth about me overlooking the gustatory system I should also briefly mention ‘taste’. I would never spit on its significance! This sensory system is also little used orally (how ironic) but from time to time it expresses our bitterness, sourness or the sweetness of life. Of course it’s only a secondary operating system so it’s understandable that many take it’s importance with a pinch of salt.

Well, having focused on this article long enough to grasp some of this I hope you’ve found it all resonates with a part of you. I have to say that I anticipate now you’ve got a whiff of it all it’s left a sweet taste in your mouth.

Thanks for reading!