Miley Cyrus had vowed to use her profile to make a positive impact on the world, after using her VMA win this week to highlight the problem of youth homelessness.

The Wrecking Ball singer says that the controversy that surrounding her 2013 performance with Robin Thicke was "a wake up call" and inspired her to use her position to bring attention to causes close to her heart.

"I think what I realized after my last performance at the VMAs, I didn't realize my platform, I didn't realize my power and I didn't realize my voice and how loud it is. And I thought, you know, rather than sit here and talk about, 'Oh, on every news cover, every time you go to AOL or wherever you go everybody's sitting there talking about me,' instead of using it as a negative, how can I use it as a positive? If I'm going to be speaking this loud, what am I trying to scream at the world? And this is it. It's kind of a wake-up (call), which is what I had to do."

She added that while performing her music is rewarding, she felt much more satisfaction from working with charities such as homeless centre My Friend's Place.

"This fills you up and it feels good for a long time. ... I feel incredible today. I feel like I have a jet strapped to me and I am ready to take off from this. I feel like there's a way that I can incorporate everything I do in the future around youth homelessness... It just gives me more of a purpose. I tell everybody, I mean, dying a pop star is not what I want to have on my tombstone."