I had a few questions about this photo which is my new facebook picture for the moment.

What is funny how pictures can bring back so many memories of your life and help you remember details you didn’t even think about until you ponder the photo one more time.

This is me on a trip with my parents. I think this was taken at the Homosassa Springs resort in Florida. I remember that my mom wanted me to put my head in the gator’s mouth. I remember being OK with it and then I freaked myself out to thinking it might turn real and I wouldn’t do it. My mom reassured me that it would not come to life but I wasn’t having it. I finally agreed to just put my foot in the mouth and pose.

If you look closer to the shoes I am wearing, you will see they are velcro. That is because I didn’t know how to tie my shoes until I was much older. It wasn’t that I couldn’t tie them but I hated that they wouldn’t stay. It was just easier to have velcro so that is what I begged for until the 3rd grade where I got my first pair of silver converse sneakers.

The tan came from the wonderful pool I had when I was a kid. My mom and I spent our summers setting by the pool reading my summer books and swimming of course. I tan VERY easy.

The white socks pulled up to my knees is just my fashion statement. LOL

Now the dramatic pose wasn’t coached. My mom knew all she had to do was tell me to put my foot in the gator and I would bring the drama pose all myself. Nothing has changed from then.

So that is your glimpse into this photo and what I was like a kid.

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I am not surprised I got asked a lot of questions on how to market yourself as a coach.

Here are my tips:

Be Authentic – This is the most important thing. Represent who you are and be real with any prospective clients. This allows you to create a better connection with people. I know that not everyone wants to work with me as a coach. That is OK because there is a coach out there to support them. I want to work with people who want to work with me. Who get me and I get them. It makes it easier. By being authentic with people, they relate to me faster and are able to make a quicker choice if they want to work with me or not.

Do not bug people – Everyone says you need to send 7 emails to get people to buy something. You need to give them something free to join a list and you need to ask, ask, and ask. I do not do that. I have enough clients who find me all on their own through my book, blog and referrals. I do not bug anyone on my lists. They receive exactly what they sign up for. To be my friend on Facebook, to receive my blog posts or to receive something I am sending out. I only contact my list 4 times a year, if that.

Speak up – If you want to market anything, you have to be able to talk about what you do and send a message out for people to reach you. There are thousands of ways to do this. You just have to pick 2 to 4 that speak to you. 2 to 4 that you love and you feel your client group would want from you. Then put out your message and watch people come.

Be realistic – Set goals to help you grow your business, evaluate your efforts and be real with yourself. Give it all time to grow and allow yourself to enjoy the journey. The clients always come. It is better to have clients who are ready and wanting to work with you than dragging clients along that you pressured to work with you.

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As I move into answering a few of the questions I received on the blog, twitter and email. I start here.

A  lot of the question came around how I am the way I am. Or how you could be more than you already are. This could be thinner, sexier, happier. etc. Some of you said you just wanted to learn to be like me.

Baby, I was born this way!

I spent a lot of my life trying to be other things. I was hoping to be more masculine. To be more accepted by people. To be liked by more people. To be more built. To be taller. To be sexy. To be rich.

I learned that I was really bad at trying to be something I wasn’t. I needed to learn to accept who I was and know that is exactly where I needed to be.

I think a lot of times I was looking at others and wanted to be more like them. Not realizing I could never be like them. I could only be me and I would have to find my own way to be what I wanted to be.

So when you ask me how I became like me, well I was born this way. Through development, I learned not to hold myself to expectations that were not mine. I accepted myself and I create the life I want to live.

Now it is your turn.

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It is that time again!! I have been getting a lot of emails wanting to know when I would do another Ask Michael so here it is.

This is your chance to ask me whatever you want. What would you like to know? What would you like me to talk about? What random questions would you like me to answer for you? What topics would you like me to write about?

I promise this time I will answer them in a unique way…

Don’t be shy and ask a question…or 2…or 5…

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Exercise has been my new focus. I have tried so many times to find something I can do on a regular basis. Well, think I found it!

Dance Central for X BOX Kinect! Yes it is a video game but, boy does it make me sweat. Plus it gives me a chance to learn so many different sweet dance moves. (Yes! I totally said “sweet dance moves”)

It is a fun way to exercise and it is a game. It allows me to challenge myself and push myself into new levels. I really have been enjoying this as my cardio. Plus I think it is tightening muscles I didn’t even know I had.

So what does it look like to do it? Take a look….

Should I be doing more videos on the blog? Do you want more videos? LOL

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Oh, I am singing that Christina Aguilera song to myself, from myself.

With my dad being ill, I have been neglecting someone, me. You see I kep myself busy with taking care of dad, worrying about him, living life, work, friends, family and have left out one person. That would be me.

When I am stressed I am guilty of starting to doubt myself. This doubt feeds my insecurities which in return make me stop being Michael and “trying” to be what everyone wants me to be. I use the word trying loosely as, in the end, I fail miserably.

Why? Because I am only best being one person. That one person is me.

The good news about getting lost is you can always find your way back. All you have to do is vision where you want to be and draw yourself a new map. A map that supports what you want in life and who you are.

Part of this return to me will be with this blog. Starting this month, I am going to be sharing a lot of self reflection posts. Allow you get to know me more as well as allow me to reintroduce myself to myself. I hope you will reflect on them as well as respond to them yourself.

To start this journey, I want you to think about this quote:

It’s hard to be uniquely you when you are watching so closely what everyone else is doing.

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Is it too soon for me to already be excited about HHN 2011? Nah…

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I was attending a meeting where it was mentioned that someone had “dropped the ball”. The room went silent. The speaker continued to share how we would make sure this never happened again and all these new processes were going to be put in place.

It was me.

Well, maybe it was me. Or maybe not. I am not sure but I felt so guilty it was me and I have been thinking about it for days.

The moment the words came out, “someone dropped the ball.” I felt the someone had to be me. As I reflected on this, I couldn’t see how it was me or how it could be perceived to be me but I was for sure planning on how to defend myself or how to make it better because of what I did.

Of course, I really do not know what I did either. Maybe that is because it may not be me.

But the real question is why do I think it was me? When they say someone is going to be homecoming queen, I do not think it is me. When they say someone is being promoted, I do not think it is me. But when something goes wrong, I always think it is me.

Lack of confidence.

How can I have a lack of confidence? My whole life I struggled to be accepted especially in my career. It has always been a battle and I am still fighting it today. It comes from me not believing in my work and what I do.

I tend to doubt.

This doubt leads to thoughts of not being good enough which lead to being guilty when anything goes wrong.

Maybe it is time for me to realize, I am good enough. Believe in my work and believe in myself. Now that I am doing the best I can do and that is enough. Free myself from feeling it is always me.

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Seriously? Can we talk?

It has been forever since I have been able to talk to someone. I really mean this. It seems the world has become a place where we no longer talk to each other.

I can not tell you how many times in the recent weeks, I needed to talk to someone or some company and am forced to leave a message. You leave a message and then you wait. Wait for them to call you back. Guess what, they don’t.

Of course it can be worse with email as well. How many time do I get emails from people and respond but never get a response. We seem we want to talk but then we are unable to connect.

Then I have to take a hard look at my own life. Guess what, I am bad too. I send recieve messages and calls and it takes me forever to respond. Not that I do not want to talk or connect. Trust me, I love to talk. It is simply I am busy.

Busy with what? I do not know. And I think we all are feeling the same thing.

We are living in a world where we are so busy but not really sure why. I think life sometimes runs off with us and we forget to take back the steering wheel. We forget our boundaries. We forget our priorities. We forget what matters most, people.

Isn’t time to step back and look at who is in your life and decide how you can stay connected? Time goes by so fast, do not waste it being busy. Spend with the people you love and love you back!

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I wanted to get my picture with a Sea Lion so bad!

I planned to get it last year but Justin and I kept not finding the time or forgetting. Finally with only weeks left on my annual pass, I realized it was now or never.

It was a cold day and I headed out to the park. When I checked to see if I could join the tour, I was told they only had one more spot left. Luckily I was by myself so I was ready to go.

I joined the group an hour later and waited to get my picture with the Sea Lion. I was a little nervous because they are a lot bigger when you have to stand next to one. It was even worse that the kid before me was irritating it. I knew for sure I was going to lose an ear during my turn.

Nope, I was safe and got a great picture taken!

To be honest, I was proud I went and did it. I do not like to be myself. I tend to miss out on things if I can’t get someone to do with me. I was very excited that I didn’t miss out on this opportunity and can now say I got my picture with a seal lion.

Another item crossed off my life list.

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