Was he right Islamically to avoid promising our future?

Assalam walekum, I'm a revert Muslim woman and a recent "dating to marry" situation with a man I cared about came to an end. We weren't married, and we both agreed to stop the relationship so we could improve ourselves. He told me honestly that he can't commit right now. He wants to focus on his deen, discipline, career, and personal growth. He encouraged me to work on myself too - not to wait for him or for our future together but to grow for my own sake. I've seen cases where Muslim couples promise each other marriage, then separate for the sake of Allah, work on themselves, and later marry when they're ready. I think I hoped for that kind of reassurance from him. When I asked, "If you become ready in the future, will you come to me and choose me right away?" he said he didn't know and left it to what Allah has planned. He said if Allah wills it, of course, but he didn't want to give me false hope or keep me waiting on something uncertain. I wanted to hear him say, "Yes, I'll come to you when I'm ready." Instead I asked, "If someone else comes when you're ready, will you marry them instead of me?" He again said he didn't know what the future holds. We struggled a lot in conflict, and our interaction didn't help either of us grow in relational maturity. Since we weren't in a halal marriage, the barakah wasn't there. Aside from that, we're both sincere Muslims and good people. My question: Is he doing the right thing Islamically by avoiding promises? Was his answer a sign of maturity and honesty, fear, or simply that he didn't want me when things became serious? We did the right thing by ending it to become better Muslims and better people, but I'm having trouble accepting his uncertainty - I wanted some certainty to comfort my hope about the future. Any perspective from a Muslim point of view would help. JazākAllāh khayr.