Discipline Is a Skill You Build with Practice #2
Discipline Is a Skill You Build with Practice
From checklists to simple tips, here are several easy ways to develop control & reduce errors.
By Adam Jackson
B Shifter Buckslip, Dec. 2, 2025.
Mention discipline in a fire station, and people immediately respond negatively. The first questions that come to mind are, “Who’s in trouble?” or “Why did he get written up for that?” Even progressive discipline, which uses a graduated approach starting at the lowest level, is often viewed unfavorably.
In one context, discipline is purely punitive—a reaction to an event or behavior. Its goals are compliance, obedience or deterrence. From another perspective, discipline promotes self-control, responsibility and accountability. One of the Latin root words of discipline is “disciplina,” which means instruction, training, skill development and increasing knowledge—all key to being a good firefighter, no matter what position you hold in the organization.
Punitive discipline is usually imposed when someone fails to demonstrate self-control, responsibility or accountability. Let’s consider an easy example: using a backer while reversing a department vehicle. Almost every department in America has a policy or SOG requiring it. Unfortunately, due to lapses in discipline by the driver, the officer or any other firefighter in the vehicle, we still see crews backing up without a backer—often resulting in damage. Yes, there are exceptions, such as transporting a critical patient and the whole crew is focused on their care, but these circumstances are rare. By demonstrating the discipline it takes to follow policies, procedures, guidelines, and daily training expectations, we can significantly reduce the chances of ever facing punitive action.
Checklists: A Simple Tool for Greater Discipline
Several years ago, to help our company officers and battalion chiefs build discipline, we instituted specific checklists for IC No. 1 and IC No. 2. Although many fire apparatus carry checklists, they’re seldom used with any regularity.
We implemented this change after adopting concepts from “The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right” by Atul Gawande. Atul studied aviation, medicine and other industries that use checklists to improve performance and reduce accidents or mistakes. They do this by eliminating forgetfulness and increasing communication between team members. The author encourages us to see checklists not as an embarrassment but as a tool to get things right in high-stakes situations.
Our policy requires the initial-arriving company officer to use a checklist after completing their 360 size-up to deliver the follow-up report. The checklist includes crucial items we don’t want them to miss, such as whether a basement is present, how many stories are visible from the rear, the accountability location, which side of the building is designated as Alpha and any changes to the initial action plan (IAP). We printed the checklist on Tyvek for strength and durability and placed several copies in the cab so the company officer can grab one as they exit the vehicle following the initial size-up. The BCs were also required to use checklists for maydays, mass-casualty incidents, multi-vehicle accidents and several other situations. Click here to view a copy of the mayday checklist.
As you can imagine, this new requirement was initially met with a lot of skepticism. Some of our officers saw using checklists as a weakness, something a “good” officer shouldn’t need to do. But as Mike Tyson is quoted as saying, “ Discipline is doing what you hate to do, but do it like you love it.” Our goal was to reduce the cognitive load on the officers, increase performance and strengthen communications. Over several years—and hundreds of multi-company drills—we showed that the checklists significantly improved our performance by reducing human error, improving communications and allowing officers to focus on solving the incident problem. No one was policing their use of the checklists, but it was easy to tell when someone wasn’t using them.
Our instructors had to demonstrate discipline by modeling and reinforcing our expectations on the drill ground over the course of years. Our officers had to show discipline by using the checklists consistently, which allowed them to set clear expectations and provide guidance to everyone on the emergency scene.
7 Tips for Cultivating Self-Discipline
We can’t rely on motivation alone to become more disciplined. Motivation is the emotional drive tied to why we do something—and understanding our why is the crucial starting point. It gets us started on the path to success. But as we all know, emotions fluctuate over time. Discipline is what carries us to the finish line. To help develop our own sense of discipline, it helps to break things down into small, meaningful steps to reduce the chance of feeling overwhelmed:
1. Show up every day and be consistent in the work. Setbacks will happen, but they don’t define you. Each day offers a new opportunity to work toward your goals.
2. Practice voluntary hardship in other areas of your life. Hard workouts, fasting, public speaking, cold plunges, or running a marathon—choose something you consider challenging and complete it. Each new challenge requires discipline. After completing my first marathon, my view of how hard I could push myself completely changed.
3. Remember you only have control of yourself and not outside events. You cannot control outside events. Your discipline is tied to your actions, so don’t let others or external challenges stop you. Avoid a victim mindset.
4. Practice delayed gratification. Constant pressure over long periods of time leads to success. Expecting quick results leads to frustration and disappointment. Discipline does not operate on a timer.
5. Ignore the naysayers who don’t want progress. I can think of no better example than President Teddy Roosevelt’s famous speech about the Man in the Arena. “ It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is not effort without error and shortcoming: but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”
6. Find wise people to emulate. Look for someone who consistently demonstrates discipline. Talk to them about their mindset, strategies, and how they overcame setbacks to keep moving forward.
7. Scrutinize yourself and reflect. Remind yourself, “I might be wrong” by practicing humility.
Discipline is not about putting your head down and trying to ram anything that gets in your way. There will be obstacles (remember, you might have to do something you don’t like to do). Your ability to pivot around those obstacles and keep moving forward—even incrementally—is crucial to your success.
Adam Jackson works for Central Pierce Fire & Rescue in Washington. He was a firefighter for 12 years and a company officer for 10. For the past several years, Adam has served as a chief officer. He currently serves as deputy chief of performance. In his off time, Adam enjoys cycling, camping and spending time with his family. You can reach Adam at ajackson@iaff726.org.