Track Selection: Be a Heavenly Soldier or a Sun Wukong?

There is a saying that “selection is greater than effort.” The more you understand the real world, the more you will agree. In a world of addition, results are normally distributed: one more unit of effort yields one more unit of gain. But in our “heavy-tail” world, if you want great achievements, you must multiply. Thus, choosing whom to multiply with is crucial: multiply correctly, and the result is exponentially amplified; multiply incorrectly, or by a negative number, and the ending is grim.

High returns are not compensation for hard work; great achievements are not the integral of effort. The world rewards asymmetric advantages. You want to be on the right side at the right time.

This isn’t just about “choosing a good major or industry”—those are details. The most important choice is what game you decide to play.

Borrowing a term from game theory, the mental tool for this lesson is Track Selection (or Game Selection).

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A Story of Two Paths #

Imagine this scenario: You were born into a family of immortals, gifted with talent from childhood. You joined a prestigious sect, practiced for a thousand years, survived several heavenly tribulations, and finally ascended to godhood… only to become one of the 100,000 “Heavenly Soldiers” tasked with stopping Sun Wukong.

This is the story of a high-achieving student becoming a civil servant. It’s not that you didn’t work hard or aren’t smart; you did everything right, followed everyone’s ideal path, and beat many others. Your position isn’t bad… but compared to Sun Wukong, you are just a mediocre serial number.

Meanwhile, that rule-breaking classmate of yours has become a legendary figure.

What’s the difference? Sun Wukong and the Heavenly Soldiers are playing two entirely different games. Track selection is not about choosing a job, but about choosing who has the narrative right to your life.

A Heavenly Soldier is an NPC in someone else’s story; Sun Wukong is the narrative origin of his own universe.

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The “In-System” vs. “Out-of-System” Logic #

I am not saying everyone should choose to be Sun Wukong. We must consider “survivor bias”: most who try to be Wukong end up as ordinary monsters easily wiped out by Heavenly Soldiers. The Sun Wukong standing before 100,000 soldiers is a lonely survivor. But you must admit, the experience is entirely different.

The Heavenly Soldier route is like a good student: exams, elite universities, joining a large institution (government, state-owned enterprise, or a tech giant). You are a cog in a large machine. This is the “In-System” path. You didn’t build the system; you adapt to it.

• Rules: Follow processes, complete evaluations, advance step-by-step.
• Logic: Master “Interpersonal Logic.” Your rewards—promotions, bonuses, recognition—are allocated from above. You must be recognized by others (often specific individuals) to secure a good position.

The Sun Wukong route is “Out-of-System.” You might be an entrepreneur or a freelancer. You face the real world directly, not someone else’s rules. You cannot avoid responsibility just because you did things “right”; you carry all the risks.

• Logic: Master “Physical World Logic.” Are the technical conditions feasible? Is the cost reasonable? How will the market react? You worry about real-world facts, not just managing a relationship.

Simply put, the status of a Heavenly Soldier comes from their allocated position; the status of Sun Wukong is self-created.

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Game Selection First, Strategy Second #

Too many people lack the awareness of track selection. They skip the “game selection” step and jump straight to “effort.” They enter a system because of parental pressure or social trends and spend decades never understanding how that system actually works.

If you have choice awareness, the most important decision is: In-System or Out-of-System?

Being Wukong doesn’t necessarily mean opposing the system. You can build your own mini-system or reform an existing one. The key difference is that In-System people adapt to others’ orders, while Out-of-System people have more ideas and agency.

Self-Test: Are you a Soldier or a Wukong?

1. Your primary daily anxiety is: (A) Performance reviews/promotions. (B) Your position on the long-term capability and influence curve.
2. Your greatest fear is: (A) Being eliminated by the organization. (B) Losing curiosity and stopping growth.
3. Your reaction to “Who do you want to be?” is: (A) A title (Director, Professor). (B) A function (Someone who changes how people think, someone who starts a new industry).

If you mostly chose A, you are a Heavenly Soldier: you thrive under clear rules and long-term optimization. If you chose B, you are a Wukong: you hate being defined and want to create.

There is no value judgment here. Being a Soldier isn’t shameful, and being Wukong isn’t noble. The danger is using a Soldier’s mindset in a Wukong track, or a Wukong’s personality in a Soldier’s hierarchy.

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The Art of the Heavenly Soldier #

The Soldier track is about standardization. Scores, rankings, KPIs, and titles are your metrics. The system evaluates you not on how “good” you do things, but on how “right” you do them. In the eyes of the system, you are highly replaceable.

The greatest risk is alienation: mistaking “metrics” for “purpose” (Goodhart’s Law).

• Strategy: Treat metrics as tools, not as life. Use Political Skill [1]—which research shows is positively correlated with career success [2]. Promotion often isn’t about how much work you do, but whether others see what you’ve done.
• Risk: The “In-System” risk is that the rules suddenly change (reorgs, policy shifts).
• Advice: Always have a “secret project” or a “Flower-Fruit Mountain backup” to empower yourself.

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The Strategy of Sun Wukong #

The Wukong track has no standard play. You set your own goals. Innovation often starts at the periphery [3], in “gray areas” like the Flower-Fruit Mountain that no department manages.

• Skills: You need asymmetric skills—“Seventy-Two Transformations”—rather than just scoring higher on a standard test.
• Strategic Tool 1: Niche Construction [4]: Don’t just find an ecological niche; build your own. Don’t apply for a job as “Keeper of the Stables”; create your own “Great Sage Equaling Heaven” position. Produce work, build influence, and accumulate users without needing permission.
• Strategic Tool 2: Effectuation [5]: This is entrepreneurial logic. The “Causation” paradigm starts with a goal and seeks resources. The “Effectuation” paradigm starts with the resources at hand (Who am I? What do I know? Who do I know?) and sees what can be created. It’s not about following a recipe; it’s about seeing what’s in the fridge and making a meal.

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Summary #

Track selection isn’t about finding a shortcut; it’s about choosing which structure you’ll be part of and which power will amplify you. It’s also about choosing your “mode of suffering”: the frustration of taking orders or the anxiety of potentially having nothing.

The worst state is being in-system while dreaming of Wukong’s achievements, or being in a multiplicative world while longing for in-system stability. Choose your game, and respect its rules.

Notes #

[1] Munyon, Todd P., et al. 2015. “Political Skill and Work Outcomes: A Theoretical Extension, Meta-Analytic Investigation, and Agenda for the Future.” Personnel Psychology 68(1): 143–184.

[2] Gentry, William A., et al. 2012. “Political Skill as an Indicator of Promotability Among Multiple Rater Sources.” Journal of Organizational Behavior 33(1): 89–104.

[3] 精英日课第四季，暴力在边缘

[4] Laland, Kevin N., John Odling-Smee, and Marcus W. Feldman. 2000. “Niche Construction, Biological Evolution, and Cultural Change.” Behavioral and Brain Sciences 23(1): 131–146.

[5] Sarasvathy, Saras D. 2001. “Causation and Effectuation: Toward a Theoretical Shift from Economic Inevitability to Entrepreneurial Contingency.” Academy of Management Review 26(2): 243–263.