Low self-esteem is a state of mind caused by many factors, and it can badly affect productivity and careers. Psychology expert, Peter Quarry believes triggers for low self-esteem can be avoided by identifying the things you do well each day, building a self-esteem file for collecting evidence of your accomplishments and updating the file regularly with new successes. Key Learning Points Low self-esteem can affect your productivity and career potential. Peter Quarry suggests how to turn this around: Avoid your triggers (eg. nasty colleague, self-castigation) Identify the things you did well at the end of each day. Build a self-esteem file. Update your file frequently with new successes.