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Gettyimages.com/Sad couple sitting back to back in bed and having some problems in their relationship.

What’s the secret to a long-lasting relationship? Everybody wants to know. Many of the answers you get have to do with the interpersonal relationship between the two people in the couple. But there is a very important aspect that is often overlooked—an aspect that, if it isn’t there, will make any other wonderful dynamics of the relationship null and void. That aspect is how the people in the couple affect one another’s lives outside the relationship. When the two people part ways to go to work, travel, be with friends and simply be apart, how have their intimate interactions influenced the way they interact with the rest of the world? No matter how much you laugh and have fun with a partner if he doesn’t help you explore and thrive in your endeavors outside of that relationship, you won’t be happy. On that note, here are signs your partner is stifling your growth.

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You haven’t advanced in your job

At the end of the day, you cannot blame your relationship for slowing down your career—you are in control of your life—but a stifled career can be a symptom of an unhealthy relationship. When you’re with someone who makes you feel confident, energized, and inspired, something is bound to move in your career in a three to five-year period.

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You feel blah about the future

You don’t really dream big anymore. You don’t have exciting ideas about the future. Tomorrow isn’t filled with possibility. Your relationship has made your days so painfully monotonous that it’s killed any hope of new, exciting experiences.

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His friends aren’t going anywhere fast

Not to be judgmental, but if you’re honest, his friends are rather unambitious. They don’t do much in the way of personal development and don’t seem to hope for big things for themselves. One’s friends are a reflection of that person. And so is one’s significant other…