People who turned their lives around in their 30's. What did you do?

I am 30 this year and my life isn't nearly what I want it to be. I am in and out of retail jobs, have no education or qualifications, haven't had any sort of romantic life in a decade. I effectively wasted my 20's now I want to build a good life in my 30's but I'm just lost each path seems to lead to a dead end and I feel so hopeless most days. So my question to those of you who managed to build a good life in their 30's how did you do it?