After [article id="1639835"]beating Holly Robinson Peete on Sunday night's "Celebrity Apprentice,"[/article] Bret Michaels sat down with Meredith Vieira on the "Today" show on Monday (May 24) to say that although he's not back to his old self yet, he is ready to make the strides to get there.

"It's great and awesome to be here. ... The doctor said it's not very smart to be here, but I'm not a very smart guy in that capacity. I really knew I wanted to be [at the finale]," he told the anchor. "This is the truth: I'm not back 100 percent yet, but I'm one of those guys that I have to have a goal, and I'm very driven, and I say this truthfully, I love life."

Michaels noted during the interview that his intention of winning "Celebrity Apprentice" hadn't changed even after the several [article id="1639716"]medical crises[/article] he's experienced in the past month. "When I went in there to do the show, I was committed 100 percent," he said. "Everybody wants to win for their cause and I went in there, I had no intention to hurt anybody. My intention was to do the best job I can do. When I had the hemorrhage I thought it was over. I got to tell you I was so happy to have been there. I set my goal."

While Michaels is taking his recovery day by day, he says that he's looking forward to performing again, including his planned summer tour.

"I say this much, I don't know that I'm ready yet and I'm going to take it in baby steps," he explained. "I've had so many amazing fans. ...

I'm ready to get out of the hospital and on the road. I'm ready to rock."