The best way to find out how much he's holding you back is this:

Get up and walk, or even run, toward your dreams and goals.

Take action that fulfills your deeper needs - get your GED or start a class at a community college. Research what it takes to open the flower shop you always wanted. Join a dance class. If you do, you will stop wondering what's going on in your relationship, and it will become sharply clear.

You will see whether:

  • he tries to stop you from moving towards your goals
  • he does nothing to keep growing himself
  • he shows no interest in your new passion
  • he complains that you are abandoning him
  • he gets up and gets moving himself toward his own dreams, and gives you whole-hearted support towards yours

Women are vibrant, capable, and talented. They seem filled with potential, poised to move into their happiness. It's obvious they can succeed at whatever they choose to do. Yet they are inhibited. They don't act on their talents and dreams because they seem held back. It soon becomes obvious that great amounts of their creative thought, emotional focus, and time are spent on managing their relationship. Relationships that these women are in are keeping them from building the life they are capable of having.

--Quoted and paraphrased sections from Lundy's Should I Stay or Should I Go?