As moondog mentioned, motivation is the key along with a humble attitude. And enduring a little pain is good for you anyway.

- Take the bus and subway instead of the company car or taxi. Learn what your stops characters stand for

- Practice your reading and conversation skills by going to eat at Chinese-only places. Starvation has always been a great teacher ^

- Newspapers and books are mostly over the top but cheap tabloids employ fewer characters and simple language

- Go looking for shops and services alone, only armed with a ( paper or electronic ) dictionary

etc.