I liked the 10 reasons why you need a financial plan, written by InvestmentYogi on Rediff
A bigger question to me is “How” to get started on a financial plan. Common sense tells me that I need a plan to execute my targets. Moreover, unless I have an emotional connect with my plan, just being rational doesn’t help me.
Let me explain. If I need to reduce the potbelly around me, or run a marathon, I know it’ll not happen overnight and I need to plan for it. Having decided that you want to run the marathon, the “Why” fades and the “How” looms larger and larger.
It has been known that for adult training, the biggest motivation for learning a new thing is WIIFM: What’s In It For Me. So understanding why we need a financial plan is a good way to get started on your money management.
Once you have decided to build a financial plan, how should you go about it?
Let’s associate this, say, with increasing your height. So here’s how (Please add your thoughts on how to build a financial plan in the comments below)
Link to post on LifeMojo on increasing height.
Yoga
Meditate on your current financial situation. Assess where you want to be with your financial goals.
Swim & Swing to get taller
The financial plan must be enjoyable to you. For this, Numbers must be interesting for you and it’s good to be able to play with them. Once you start enjoying playing with the numbers, the rest, they say, is easy.
Stretching Exercises:
Numbers will tell you the need to stretch your limits slowly and steadily. Get to know your own financial goals. Schedule your activities that suits your style and goals.
Running uphill:
Now that you have your goals and can play with numbers, it’s time to invest in wealth creation. It may be like running uphill against inflation, but really is the key to your financial plan.
Hang upside down for brief periods:
There will be ups and down in the financial journey. There will be phases of happiness, anxiety, depression and hope. Be ready for the downsides. When markets are down, invest more. So that when it eventually rebounds, you make a killing. So, isn’t hanging upside down really helpful! 
Prioritize/Organize
It’s good to be able to do all of the above. But actually you may need to choose among them. That’s where diversification comes in. Invest in a judicious mix of debt and equity products according to your own risk appetite.
Well, these are my thoughts on how to build a financial plan for myself. What about you? Would you like to add/ modify anything?
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Great analogy Ranjan..
Love the way you simplify complex concepts